How much cruise capacity is scheduled for 2026, 2027 and 2028?

Name: How much cruise capacity is scheduled for 2026, 2027 and 2028?
Creator: Cruiseable (Agile Travel Group, Inc.)
Published: 2026-10-04
License: https://cruise-itinerary.com/terms

Last updated 2026-10-04 · figures from the Monday load of 2026-09-28 · refreshed weekly

TL;DR

Cruise lines have 20,862 sailings on sale for 2027, with 43.0 million lower berths of passenger capacity on 501 ships. Europe/Mediterranean carries 39% of those berths and Caribbean & Atlantic 26%. 2028 is still filling: 15,130 sailings so far. 35 ships make their first sailing in the register after 20 November 2026.

Capacity here is what the cruise lines have published and put on sale as of the Monday load of 28 September 2026: every sailing's lower berths, two per cabin, counted once per departure. 2026 covers only the months still ahead, and 2028 grows each week as lines open new seasons.

Which cruise regions have the most capacity?

Europe/Mediterranean has the most cruise capacity scheduled for 2027, 17.0 million lower berths on 10,667 sailings, 39% of the total. Caribbean & Atlantic follows with 11.3 million. A sailing counts under its cruise's main region, and each ship counts once per day, so overlapping voyage segments are not double counted.

Sailings and lower berths by region and year, load of 2026-09-28
Region	Sailings 2027	Berths 2026 (rest of year)	Berths 2027	Berths 2028 (so far)	Ships 2027
Europe/Mediterranean	10,667	3,238,275	16,953,338	12,638,972	323
Caribbean & Atlantic	3,331	2,988,755	11,325,602	5,713,438	178
United States	2,360	2,186,940	7,586,014	3,628,990	144
Alaska region	925	8,736	1,775,620	1,244,340	56
Asia	821	451,528	1,688,734	650,714	50
Australia/New Zealand	471	352,923	1,114,199	592,871	46
South America	503	354,315	1,085,077	640,474	55
Mexico region	174	208,202	469,240	268,522	30
Hawaii region	131	80,558	277,280	163,604	26
Pacific & South Pacific region	414	42,782	154,828	93,682	43
Canada region	189	47,416	236,668	134,652	58
Arctic	91	0	87,359	69,775	34
Central America region	35	16,436	40,000	16,422	28
Africa	500	17,322	72,862	51,046	23
Middle East	50	11,286	61,070	56,164	20
Panama region	35	2,614	14,696	23,088	9
No region	87	9,479	24,750	13,404	14
Antarctica region	78	7,182	14,778	15,426	9

Download this table as CSV (18 rows)

Lower berths on sailings starting in the year. Lower-berth days, which count every day a ship is in service, are in the CSV. Ships without a published capacity count as sailings and add no berths (67 sailings in 2027). Monthly capacity by port: Port Day, monthly cruise demand by port.

How does cruise capacity change from 2026 to 2028?

The register holds 5,053 cruise sailings for the rest of 2026, 20,862 for 2027 and 15,130 for 2028, with 10.0 million, 43.0 million and 26.0 million lower berths. The drop after 2027 reflects seasons not yet on sale rather than fewer ships, since lines open later seasons in waves through the year.

Cruise capacity on sale by year, load of 2026-09-28
Year	Ships	Sailings	Lower berths	Lower-berth days
2026	473	5,053	10,024,749	56,993,773
2027	501	20,862	42,982,115	236,352,473
2028	489	15,130	26,015,584	146,742,656

Download this table as CSV (3 rows)

Which new cruise ships enter service in 2027 and 2028?

35 ships make their first sailing in the register after 20 November 2026 and have no maiden voyage on record before 2025, so most are new builds. The largest include MSC World Asia (MSC Cruises) and Carnival Festivale (Carnival Cruise Line). The table gives each one's line, lower berths and first sailing.

Ships whose first sailing in the register is after 2026-11-20
Ship	Line	Lower berths	First sailing	Sailings on sale	Maiden voyage (if known)
Viking Libra	Viking Ocean Cruises	998	3 Dec 2026	135	n/a
MSC World Asia	MSC Cruises	5,240	4 Dec 2026	496	n/a
Seven Seas Prestige	Regent Seven Seas Cruises	822	13 Dec 2026	85	n/a
Star Explorer	Windstar Cruises	224	28 Dec 2026	126	n/a
Emerald Lumi	Emerald Cruises	n/a	27 Mar 2027	62	n/a
S.S. Marlene	Uniworld River Cruises	154	27 Mar 2027	49	n/a
S.S. Sao Rafael	Uniworld River Cruises	94	31 Mar 2027	140	n/a
Viking Laga	Viking River Cruises	190	4 Apr 2027	41	n/a
Viking Fulla	Viking River Cruises	190	4 Apr 2027	41	n/a
AmaRudi	AmaWaterways	196	4 Apr 2027	85	n/a
World Voyager	Atlas Ocean Voyages	200	6 Apr 2027	27	n/a
AmaFiora	AmaWaterways	152	14 Apr 2027	80	n/a
Explora IV	Explora Journeys	922	15 Apr 2027	120	n/a
S.S. Audrey	Uniworld River Cruises	154	16 Apr 2027	51	n/a
Carnival Festivale	Carnival Cruise Line	5,356	2 May 2027	52	n/a
MS Midnatsol	Hurtigruten	524	17 May 2027	21	n/a
Norwegian Aura	Norwegian Cruise Line	3,840	21 May 2027	74	n/a
Viking Astrea	Viking Ocean Cruises	998	1 Jun 2027	116	n/a
Viking Ran	Viking River Cruises	190	12 Jun 2027	41	n/a
Celebrity Compass	Celebrity Cruises	n/a	5 Aug 2027	59	n/a
Sonata	Oceania Cruises	1,390	7 Aug 2027	78	n/a
Hero of the Seas	Royal Caribbean	5,654	11 Aug 2027	37	n/a
Viking Anubis	Viking River Cruises	82	4 Sep 2027	55	n/a
Celebrity Seeker	Celebrity Cruises	n/a	21 Oct 2027	54	n/a
MSC World Atlantic	MSC Cruises	5,240	13 Nov 2027	103	n/a
Aurelia	Oceania Cruises	476	29 Nov 2027	26	n/a
Explora V	Explora Journeys	914	4 Dec 2027	66	n/a
Emerald Xara	Emerald Cruises	128	16 Mar 2028	33	n/a
Scenic Ikon	Scenic	270	21 Apr 2028	21	n/a
Celebrity Wanderer	Celebrity Cruises	n/a	22 Apr 2028	37	n/a
Viking Lyra	Viking Ocean Cruises	998	31 May 2028	68	n/a
Crystal Grace	Crystal	n/a	11 Jun 2028	24	n/a
Celebrity Roamer	Celebrity Cruises	n/a	22 Jul 2028	24	n/a
Celebrity Boundless	Celebrity Cruises	n/a	16 Sep 2028	16	n/a
Atlas Adventurer	Atlas Ocean Voyages	400	6 Nov 2028	14	n/a

Download this table as CSV (35 rows)

A ship returning from a long refit or a seasonal lay-up can also appear here; check the maiden voyage column where we hold one.

Key takeaways

20,862 cruise sailings with 43.0 million lower berths are on sale for 2027, on 501 ships.
Europe/Mediterranean holds 39% of 2027 cruise capacity, the most of any region.
2028 capacity is still being published: 15,130 sailings so far, against 20,862 for 2027.
35 ships make their first sailing in the register after 20 November 2026, most of them new builds.

Frequently asked questions

How many cruise passengers can sail in 2027?

Sailings on sale for 2027 offer 43.0 million lower berths across 20,862 departures on 501 ships, as of the load of 28 September 2026. Lower berths count two beds per cabin, so actual passengers usually run somewhat higher when third and fourth berths are sold. Lines missing from the register, such as TUI and AIDA, add more.

Which region has the most cruise ships?

Europe/Mediterranean has the most cruise capacity scheduled for 2027, with 17.0 million lower berths on 10,667 sailings and 323 ships deployed at some point in the year. Caribbean & Atlantic is second with 11.3 million lower berths. Ships move between regions by season, so one ship can count in several regions.

Why is there less cruise capacity for 2028?

Cruise lines open new seasons in waves rather than all at once, so 2028 is only partly on sale: 15,130 sailings so far against 20,862 for 2027. The figure grows each week as new seasons are published. It does not mean the fleet is shrinking.

About the author

Cruiseable (Agile Travel Group, Inc.). Cruise Itinerary is published by Agile Travel Group, Inc., which operates as Cruiseable. We keep a register of future cruise sailings from 43 lines, reload it every Monday, and keep every weekly fare snapshot since 2026-09-06. The figures on this page come from that register. Corrections: [email protected].

Disclosure

Cruise Itinerary sells API access to the data behind this page, and its operator also runs Cruiseable, a cruise search site, and Port Day, a port capacity service. No cruise line paid for or reviewed these figures.