Legend of the Seas Heads to Cadiz Drydock Before Maiden Voyage

Updated July 1, 2026

Royal Caribbean's newly delivered Legend of the Seas has arrived in the Western Mediterranean, calling at Malaga on Monday and beginning a short preview cruise before its first commercial sailing on July 4 from Civitavecchia.

The ship had previously been expected to spend five days at Navantia's Cadiz shipyard before the maiden voyage. Spanish media later reported that the Cadiz project was canceled. The 250,800-gross-ton LNG-powered Icon-class ship was delivered by Meyer Turku in Finland on June 10.

Preview sailing leads into July 4 maiden cruise

The preview sailing had been scheduled to run from Malaga to Rome for trade and media guests. The first paying guests are due to board on July 4 for a seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise from Civitavecchia, with visits to La Spezia, Palma de Mallorca, Marseille and Barcelona.

Legend's opening Mediterranean program is built around weeklong cruises from Civitavecchia and Barcelona, with calls in Spain, France and Italy. The ship is scheduled to continue its inaugural European season through the summer before repositioning to Florida in the fall.

Canceled Cadiz work had centered on final outfitting

Before the cancellation, the Cadiz newspaper Diario de Cadiz had identified Dique 4 as the planned dock for the shipyard call. The planned stay was expected to include technical work, inspections, provisioning and Central Park horticultural work.

On Legend, Royal Caribbean's Central Park is an open-air area among the ship's eight neighborhoods and is planned with more than 30,500 real plants. Navantia handled a similar horticultural assignment for Icon of the Seas in late 2023, when the yard installed more than 10,000 live plants aboard the first Icon-class ship.

Delivery started the final rollout

Royal Caribbean took delivery of Legend of the Seas at Meyer Turku on June 10. More than 1,200 crew members and partners attended the handover. The ship departed the Finnish yard on June 18 before arriving in the Western Mediterranean.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley and Meyer Turku CEO Casimir Lindholm led the ceremony. "Legend of the Seas is the third Icon Class ship built at our shipyard," Lindholm said. He called the vessel "an exceptional project in terms of both scale and technical complexity."

At nearly 365 meters long, Legend carries 2,805 cabins, 5,610 passengers at double occupancy and 2,350 crew. Its diesel-electric plant uses six Wartsila 46TS-DF dual-fuel engines and three 20-MW ABB Azipod units. A shore-power system lets the ship shut down main engines when connected to a local grid while berthed.

Europe first, then Port Everglades

A 13-night transatlantic voyage is scheduled to depart on Oct. 25 for Fort Lauderdale. From Port Everglades, Legend will then operate six- to eight-night Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries. The winter program includes visits to Perfect Day at CocoCay, plus calls in the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean such as Aruba, Curacao, Cabo Rojo and Falmouth.

Royal Caribbean also added a three-night Bahamas cruise from Port Everglades on Nov. 8, 2026, ahead of the previously scheduled Nov. 11 Fort Lauderdale inaugural sailing. Guests already booked on the Nov. 11 cruise were offered options that included keeping their booking or moving to the new sailing, with changed reservations priced at prevailing rates based on availability.

Royal Caribbean's next Icon ships

Following Legend's delivery, Royal Caribbean's orderbook stands at seven ships. Hero of the Seas is scheduled for 2027 as the fourth Icon-class ship, with seven-night Caribbean cruises from PortMiami. The company's longer Meyer Turku framework also covers Icon 5 in 2028 and the sixth and seventh Icon-class ships in 2029 and 2030.

See current Legend of the Seas fares and itineraries on Cruise Lookup.