Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean has adjusted the route and itinerary to maximize eclipse viewing for Liberty of the Seas.
- The impacted departure is the ship’s solar eclipse cruise leaving Southampton on August 7, 2026.
- Lisbon is now cancelled and La Coruna and Vigo adjusted, with Le Havre added to the itinerary.
Setting sail to view the August 12, 2026, total solar eclipse will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Royal Caribbean is taking steps to ensure the up to 4,960 guests aboard Liberty of the Seas have the best eclipse viewing that day with an itinerary change to maximize their astronomical adventure while still maintaining exceptional ports of call.
This necessitates an itinerary change and some port adjustments, and the cruise line has reached out to booked guests with the updated schedule.
“To give everyone the best possible total solar eclipse viewing experience during our sailing, we’ll adjust our route after our visit to Gijon, Spain,” the notification confirmed.
Liberty of the Seas will no longer be calling on Lisbon, Portugal, but will instead head directly for Vigo so the 155,900-gross-ton ship is in the best viewing path possible. Following the eclipse, the ship will visit La Coruna, and there will also be a port visit to Le Havre (Paris) before debarkation in Southampton.
The solar eclipse 9-night cruise itinerary is now as follows:
- Friday, August 7 – Depart Southampton at 5 p.m.
- Saturday, August 8 – Day at sea
- Sunday, August 9 – Bilbao, Spain from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Monday, August 10 – Gijon, Spain from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, August 11 – Vigo, Spain from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (previously La Coruna)
- Wednesday, August 12 – Solar Eclipse day at sea
- Thursday, August 13 – La Coruna, Spain from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (previously Lisbon)
- Friday, August 14 – Day at sea (previously Vigo)
- Saturday, August 15 – Paris, France from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (previously day at sea)
- Sunday, August 16 – Arrive Southampton at 5:30 a.m.
While some guests will undoubtedly be disappointed that the visit to Lisbon is no longer possible, Royal Caribbean has attempted to preserve the quality of port time as well as offer the best possible eclipse viewing.
Shore tours for Lisbon that have been booked through the cruise line will be automatically cancelled and refunded back to the original form of payment. Similarly, tours for Vigo and La Coruna will be adjusted to the new port visit days and times.
Guests Excited About Change
Many times, when a cruise itinerary is changed, guests are upset at the adjustment and how it may impact their vacation plans. In this case, however, guests on Reddit are happy with the change and the better eclipse viewing it will provide.
“We originally were not going to see 100% totality, but with this email, I think they listened to us?!” the original poster exclaimed. “If so, super grateful for the change.”
Previously, the ship’s route was likely to stay within the 94-98% totality zone for eclipse viewing. While that may seem adequate, this type of event is hard to duplicate.
According to TimeandDate, the next total solar eclipse will not be until August 2, 2027, but that totality path is mostly over northern Africa and will not offer as many at-sea viewing opportunities.
“I’m just so glad they listened! I’m fine with the changes, the whole point I booked this cruise was to see the eclipse in totality!” another guest commented.
While the new sailing path and port schedule will provide better eclipse viewing, guests should always remember that Mother Nature has the final say on just how good the viewing may be and all eclipse sightings will be weather-dependent.
