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New cruise ships 2026–2028: what we know about their casinos

Every new ship due on the ten cruise lines we cover from late 2026 through 2028, with the debut date and homeport the line has announced and every casino detail it has published. Where a line hasn't said anything yet, we say so.

Short answer

Our table lists 15 ocean ships, from Legend of the Seas' first Florida season in late 2026 to Explora VI in August 2028, but only one line has said much about a new casino: Carnival calls the Festivale Casino on Carnival Festivale (2027) the largest in its fleet and says it will carry Carnival's first $1 million slot progressive jackpot. Royal Caribbean lists a Casino Royale on Hero of the Seas, and Margaritaville's deck plan for Beachcomber labels a Margaritaville Casino. For every other new ship, slot counts, table counts, size and smoking rules have not been announced.

Lines usually publish casino details close to launch, so check the ship's profile again before you book. Princess and Virgin Voyages have no new ship due in this period, and Holland America's next addition, Arcadia, arrives in 2029.

All new ships at a glance

Listed by first sailing, earliest first. A ship with only a year announced is listed first in that year. Dates and homeports are the line's own unless marked Reported, which means the detail comes from a third party and the date of that report is in the ship's section below.

First sailing	Ship	Line	Homeport	Casino details published
Winter 2026–27 in Florida (sailing since summer 2026)	Legend of the Seas	Royal Caribbean	Fort Lauderdale	Casino Royale. Two-level casino Reported
Dec 4, 2026	MSC World Asia	MSC Cruises	Barcelona	Not announced
2027	Carnival Festivale	Carnival	Port Canaveral	Largest casino in Carnival's fleet, smoking and non-smoking areas, first $1 million slot progressive
January 2027	Beachcomber	Margaritaville at Sea	Miami, then Galveston	Margaritaville Casino (named on deck plan)
May 2, 2027	Norwegian Aura	Norwegian	Trieste, then Miami from June 2027	Not announced
Summer 2027	Explora IV	Explora Journeys	Not announced	Not announced
Aug 1, 2027	Hero of the Seas	Royal Caribbean	Miami	Casino Royale (name only)
November 2027	MSC World Atlantic	MSC Cruises	Port Canaveral	Not announced
December 2027	Explora V	Explora Journeys	Not announced	Not announced
2028	Celebrity Xcite	Celebrity	Not announced	Not announced
2028	Oasis Class ship (unnamed)	Royal Caribbean	Not announced	Not announced
2028	Icon Class ship (unnamed)	Royal Caribbean	Not announced	Not announced
Apr 15, 2028	Carnival Tropicale	Carnival	Galveston	Not announced
May 2028	Norwegian Bella	Norwegian	Barcelona	Not announced
August 2028	Explora VI	Explora Journeys	Not announced	Not announced

Ships with only a year announced are placed at the point in that year where the line's other news suggests they fall. Celebrity's two 2027 river ships aren't in the table because they have no casino; see Celebrity.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean's ship pages and fact sheets name Casino Royale on its new ships but give no slot or table counts. Its ships-by-age guide lists two more ships for 2028, an Oasis Class ship and an Icon Class ship, both still unnamed.

Legend of the SeasIcon Class. Royal Caribbean lists it as a 2026 ship, sailing from Barcelona and Rome (Civitavecchia) in the summer and from Fort Lauderdale for winter Caribbean sailings. Its February 2026 fact sheet lists Casino Royale without figures. In an October 2025 email to Club Royale members, Royal Caribbean said “Your next Icon Class casino is getting a major upgrade,” and Cruise Industry News reported it as the line's first two-story casino, with slots and tables on two levels joined by a staircase Reported Oct 18, 2025. The Royal Caribbean Blog reported that Deck 3 is a non-smoking casino area connected to the main floor on Deck 4 Reported Aug 22, 2026. Slot count, table count and size: Not announced.
Hero of the SeasIcon Class. Maiden voyage August 1, 2027, per Royal Caribbean's fact sheet (updated October 6, 2026), sailing from Miami. The fact sheet lists Casino Royale among the amenities. The ship page's banner still says “Arrives Summer 2026” while its text says August 2027; we use the fact sheet. Size, slots, tables and smoking rules: Not announced.
Oasis Class ship, 2028 (unnamed)Royal Caribbean's ships-by-age guide lists “2028 – TBA (Oasis Class).” Royal Caribbean's press center has marked its keel laying. Name, homeport and casino details: Not announced.
Icon Class ship, 2028 (unnamed)The same guide lists “2028 – TBA (Icon Class).” Name, homeport and casino details: Not announced.

How Royal Caribbean's casino program works: Royal Caribbean and Club Royale.

Carnival

Carnival has published more about a new casino than any other line in this guide, all of it about Festivale.

Carnival FestivaleExcel Class, “setting sail in 2027” from Port Canaveral, per Carnival's ship page. Carnival says the Festivale Casino is “the largest casino in Carnival's fleet,” with “dedicated smoking and non-smoking areas,” and that “for the first time ever” guests can play for a $1 Million Dollar Slot Progressive Jackpot. It also mentions fleetwide progressive jackpots on poker and blackjack. Square footage, slot count and table count: Not announced.
Carnival TropicaleThe last Excel Class ship. Carnival's September 10, 2026 release says it sails from Galveston beginning April 15, 2028. Neither that release nor the ship page mentions a casino; the only gaming venue named is The Vault Retrocade, an arcade. CruiseMapper's deck plan, which it says is based on the Carnival Jubilee design, shows a casino on Deck 7 Reported, accessed Oct 22, 2026. Casino details: Not announced.

How Carnival's casino program works: Carnival Players Club.

Norwegian

Norwegian has two new Prima Plus Class ships coming. Neither announcement mentions the casino.

Norwegian AuraFirst sailing May 2, 2027, a 10-day voyage from Trieste to Athens (Piraeus) that Norwegian added on October 9, 2026 because of early delivery. Norwegian's January 15, 2026 release says the ship will homeport in Miami from June 2027. NCL's own Aura deck plans don't show a casino yet; CruiseMapper's Deck 6 plan labels an “Aura Casino” Reported, accessed Oct 22, 2026. Casino details: Not announced.
Norwegian BellaOpened for sale October 20, 2026. Norwegian says it will sail seven-day round trips in the Mediterranean from Barcelona beginning in May 2028, at about 170,000 gross tons with 3,921 guests at double occupancy. Casino details: Not announced. We don't have a profile for this ship yet.

How Norwegian's casino program works: Casinos At Sea Rewards.

MSC Cruises

MSC's releases for its next two World Class ships cover sea trials, sales and homeports but not the casinos. MSC's fifth and sixth World Class ships are due in 2029 and 2030, after this guide's window Reported May 31, 2025.

MSC World AsiaMSC's September 14, 2026 release says the ship will be delivered on November 25, 2026 and leave Barcelona on its first seven-night sailing on December 4, 2026. CruiseMapper's pre-delivery deck plan shows the casino on Deck 7 Reported, accessed Oct 11, 2026. Casino name, size, games and smoking rules: Not announced.
MSC World AtlanticMSC opened sales on December 10, 2025, for sailings from Port Canaveral from November 2027. Casino details: Not announced.

How MSC's casino program works: MSC Cruises casino and rewards.

Celebrity

Celebrity's only new ocean ship in this period is the sixth Edge Series ship.

Celebrity XciteCelebrity's ship page says “Coming 2028” and “Stay tuned for more details to come.” Homeport and casino details: Not announced. We don't have a profile for this ship yet.
River ships: Celebrity Compass and Celebrity SeekerCelebrity's first river ships, due in 2027 in Europe, per our profiles. Neither ship page mentions a casino, and we found no report of one.

How Celebrity's casino program works: Blue Chip Club.

Explora Journeys

Explora's ship pages date its next three ships but say nothing about their casinos. Explora I, II and III each have a casino, and Explora has no casino rewards program.

Explora IVSummer 2027. Homeport and casino details: Not announced.
Explora VDecember 2027. Homeport and casino details: Not announced.
Explora VIAugust 2028. Homeport and casino details: Not announced.

More on the line: Explora Journeys casinos.

Margaritaville at Sea

Beachcomber is the line's third ship. It is a refitted older ship rather than a new build; its profile has the history.

BeachcomberMargaritaville says the ship “joins the fleet in January 2027 for its inaugural season, sailing from Miami,” and will also sail from Galveston, its “new Texas homeport.” Cruise Radio reported Galveston sailings from October 2027 Reported Sep 9, 2026. The line's deck plan (dated October 8, 2026) labels a Margaritaville Casino. Slot count, games and smoking rules: Not announced.

How Margaritaville's casino program works: Casino Players Club.

Princess, Holland America and Virgin

PrincessNo new ship in this period. Princess's newest ships are the Voyager Class, ordered in April 2026 for delivery in late 2035, 2038 and 2039.
Holland AmericaNo new build in this period. On October 6, 2026, Holland America said P&O Cruises' Arcadia will join its fleet in 2029, outside this guide's window, and that its venues will be decided “in the next several months.” No casino details yet.
Virgin VoyagesWe found no announced new ship. The newest is Brilliant Lady (2025).

Recently launched

These ships entered service before this guide's window, so their casinos can already be seen on board. Their profiles have the published figures and player reports.

Star PrincessPrincess, 2025.
Celebrity XcelCelebrity, 2025.
Norwegian LunaNorwegian, 2026.
Explora IIIExplora Journeys, 2026.

How we checked

We started with each line's own ship pages, fact sheets and press releases, opened on October 22, 2026, and used a third-party detail only where the line is silent, marked Reported with the date. A casino listed on a third-party deck plan before a ship is delivered is often copied from a sister ship, so treat it as a guess. “Not announced” means we found nothing from the line, not that the feature won't exist.

Sources

Royal Caribbean — Ships by age (2027–2028 new ships) (published Nov 4, 2025; accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Royal Caribbean — Legend of the Seas (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Royal Caribbean — Legend of the Seas fact sheet (Feb 2026; cited from our ship profile, not reopened)
Cruise Industry News — Legend of the Seas to feature two-story casino (Oct 18, 2025)
Royal Caribbean Blog — Royal Caribbean expands the non-smoking casino on another cruise ship (Aug 22, 2026; cited from our ship profile, blocked our request Oct 22, 2026)
Royal Caribbean — Hero of the Seas (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Royal Caribbean — Hero of the Seas fact sheet (updated Oct 6, 2026; accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Royal Caribbean press center — Seventh Oasis Class vacation celebrates keel-laying milestone (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Carnival — Carnival Festivale (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Carnival News — Carnival Tropicale reservations now open (Sep 10, 2026)
Carnival — Carnival Tropicale (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
CruiseMapper — Carnival Tropicale deck plans (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
NCL — Norwegian Aura opens for sale (Jan 15, 2026)
NCL — Two new inaugural Mediterranean sailings aboard Norwegian Aura (Oct 9, 2026)
NCL — Norwegian Aura deck plans (accessed Oct 22, 2026, per our ship profile)
CruiseMapper — Norwegian Aura Deck 6 plan (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
NCL — Norwegian Bella opens for sale (Oct 20, 2026)
NCL — Norwegian Bella (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
MSC Press Area — MSC World Asia ready for December Mediterranean debut (Sep 14, 2026)
CruiseMapper — MSC World Asia deck plans (accessed Oct 11, 2026, per our ship profile)
MSC Press Area — Sales now open for MSC World Atlantic (Dec 10, 2025)
Cruise Industry News — All the new ships entering service for MSC Cruises (May 31, 2025)
Celebrity Cruises — Celebrity Xcite (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Celebrity Cruises — Celebrity Compass river ship (accessed Oct 22, 2026, per our ship profile)
Celebrity Cruises — Celebrity Seeker river ship (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Explora Journeys — Our ships (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Explora Journeys — EXPLORA IV (“Setting sail in Summer 2027”) (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Explora Journeys — EXPLORA V (“Setting sail in December 2027”) (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Explora Journeys — EXPLORA VI (“Setting sail August 2028”) (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Margaritaville at Sea — Beachcomber (accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Margaritaville at Sea — Beachcomber deck plan (PDF) (Oct 8, 2026; accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Cruise Radio — Beachcomber to sail from Galveston in 2027 (Sep 9, 2026; accessed Oct 22, 2026)
Princess — Princess Cruises announces Voyager Class order (Apr 15, 2026)
Holland America — Holland America Line expands to 12 ships with addition of Arcadia (Oct 6, 2026; accessed Oct 22, 2026)

Last checked October 22, 2026

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