Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean revised the itinerary for Legend of the Seas’ July 25, 2026, departure.
- Notably, the visit to Alicante, Spain, has been replaced with a call at La Spezia, Italy.
- The rest of the itinerary has been reordered, and the time in certain ports has been adjusted.
Legend of the Seas hasn’t entered service yet, but it is already no stranger to itinerary changes.
Royal Caribbean recently tweaked several itineraries for the third Icon-class ship’s inaugural Caribbean season, and is back with another change for the new build’s fourth official cruise.
The impacted voyage is a one-way sailing from Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy, to Barcelona, Spain, which is scheduled to embark on July 25, 2026. The ship will have just entered service a few weeks prior on July 4, 2026.
Over the course of eight nights, the 250,800-gross ton vessel was supposed to visit Naples, Italy; Palma De Mallorca, Spain; Alicante, Spain; and Malaga, Spain, in the listed order.
However, the schedule has been reordered and Alicante has been swapped out entirely with a visit to La Spezia, Italy, which is the gateway to Florence and Pisa.
Cruise Hive was not able to verify the reason behind the drastic change, but cruise lines can make itinerary changes for a variety of reasons, such as port availability, safety concerns, fuel optimization, and/or anticipated rough weather.
What is the New itinerary?
Most of the same ports are still on the itinerary for the July 25 sailing, but in a different order and with updated timing. Only Alicante was entirely removed and replaced.
“We’ll now visit Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Italy instead of Alicante, Spain on Day 2 at 6:30 AM and depart at 8:00 PM—giving you even more time ashore to enjoy everything this beautiful destination has to offer,” Royal Caribbean wrote to impacted guests.
“As a result of this change, our Sea Day will now take place on Day 3, followed by our visit to Naples, Italy on Day 4 from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. After another relaxing Sea Day, we’ll arrive in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on Day 6 at 7:00 AM until 2:30 PM. Additionally, our call times in Málaga, Spain have been updated to 12:30 PM to 9:00 PM,” the letter continued.
La Spezia will now be the first port call of the trip on Day 2 (July 26), knocking Naples out as the first destination of the voyage.
Instead, the 5,610-guest ship will spend Day 3 (July 27) of the voyage at sea and visit Naples one day later than planned on Day 4 (July 28).
Palma De Mallorca was originally on the itinerary for Day 5 (July 29), but this visit has been bumped back to Day 6 (July 30). Cruisers will get to enjoy the port from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. instead of the originally planned 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Malaga does not shift from its planned date of July 31. However, the visit has shifted from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. This is roughly the same amount of time in Malaga, but the window has been pushed back.
Accessibility Concerns for La Spezia
Surely adding to the annoyance for some guests, Royal Caribbean will be employing tendering operations during the visit to La Spezia.
La Spezia does have a standard dock, but the soon-to-debut ship is simply too massive to safely dock at the pier. The ship is 1,198 feet long and 213 feet wide, which, to put it simply, is huge.
Because of the nature of tendering operations, guests who are not able to walk at least a couple of steps and/or guests who do not have collapsible wheelchairs will not be able to go ashore.
“We’ll be tendering you ashore in Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Italy. Tenders are accessible to guests who use collapsible wheelchairs and who can take a few steps. Full-time mobility scooter or wheelchair users who are unable to take a few steps may be unable to go ashore,” Royal Caribbean advised.
Guests who are unable to disembark in La Spezia will still get to enjoy all of the amenities and entertainment onboard (and likely with less crowds!), including the world-class pools and hot tubs.
