The Port of Baltimore is losing one of its two cruise ships — and with it, more than 40 cruises each year.

Royal Caribbean has operated the 915-foot Vision of the Seas out of Baltimore since 2023, but the ship will relocate to Fort Lauderdale in “late 2026,” the company confirmed to The Baltimore Banner. Booking information on the cruise line’s website indicates the ship will move in late October of that year.

The ship’s relocation is a loss for the Port of Baltimore’s busy cruise industry. It is scheduled to take 45 trips out of Baltimore in 2025; Carnival’s Carnival Pride, the other cruise ship based in Baltimore, has 48 trips scheduled this year.

After relocating to Fort Lauderdale, the ship will remain there through April 2027, Royal Caribbean said, but declined to comment on future deployment.

“We look forward to reviewing opportunities to sail from Baltimore in the future,” a company spokesperson said in an email Friday.

The Vision of the Seas, like the Carnival Pride, operates year-round out of Baltimore, sailing to southern destinations such as the Bahamas and Bermuda. In summer months, it also sails to Canada and New England. Trips range from five to 12 nights.

“Royal Caribbean has been an outstanding cruise partner for many years at the Port of Baltimore. We are continuing to hold discussions with them,” Richard Scher, a spokesperson for the Maryland Port Administration, which oversees Baltimore’s port, said in a statement.

Carnival and Royal Caribbean are by far the two largest cruise lines in the world. With 28 ships in its fleet, it is possible that a different Royal Caribbean vessel could eventually relocate to Baltimore, although many are too large to fit under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The Port of Baltimore recently agreed to a five-year contract with Carnival Cruise Line that runs through the end of 2029. Scher also noted that cruise lines AIDA (a subsidiary of Carnival) and Crystal Cruises will each visit Baltimore next year.

“Cruising is a key focus for us at the Port of Baltimore, and we will continue to look at opportunities to grow our cruise business,” Scher said.

Baltimore first became a cruise port when the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City diverted shipping traffic elsewhere. Maryland then converted an old paper warehouse at South Locust Point into a $13 million cruise terminal in 2006.

More than 444,000 passengers boarded cruises from the Port of Baltimore in 2023, the third-most in the port’s history and most since 2012. Ships that sail out of Baltimore “have done so at full passenger capacity for years,” Scher said. Cruise operations in 2023 resulted in 223 direct jobs and $3.8 million in state and local taxes, according to an economic impact report.

Cruises paused for two months in 2024 after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, which blocked the shipping channel. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the port’s cruise terminal was converted into a command hub full of emergency response personnel rather than vacationers.

The collapsed bridge’s remaining structures will be demolished this summer, and in-water construction of the new bridge will begin this fall, but those activities are not expected to block the shipping channel.

Scott Faust, a travel agent who operates Destination 24/7 Travel Services, said cruise lines have expressed an interest in bringing even larger ships to Baltimore, but they’ve been limited by bridge height. So, when he recently spoke with Royal Caribbean, he was “shocked” to learn that Vision of the Seas was relocating.

The new Key Bridge will be significantly taller than its predecessor — with 230 feet of vertical clearance — but the Bay Bridge, which first opened in 1952, only allows 185 feet beneath it. That limits many newer cruise ships, some of which require over 210 feet of clearance.

Vision of the Seas, which entered service in 1998, can accommodate about 2,800 guests plus crew. But the ship pales in comparison to modern mammoths that often sail out of places like Florida.

Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, which embarked on its first voyage last year, is triple the tonnage of the Vision of the Seas.

Losing one of the few cruise ships stationed in the mid-Atlantic is a disappointment for cruisers in the region. Outside of Florida, the only East Coast cities to offer cruises year-round are in the New York City area and, as of last month, Norfolk, Virginia. Next year, Philadelphia will add cruises from Norwegian Cruise Line.

Lisa Dormire organizes group trips for a retirement community outside of Pittsburgh, including a Vision of the Seas cruise from Baltimore last fall. On Friday, she and a group of more than 40 were bussing back from Fort Lauderdale after a 4-night cruise.

They opted to embark from Florida for warmth and affordability. Still, the 18-hour bus ride is not desirable, she admitted.

“That’s part of what’s really attractive for Baltimore for us,” she said in a phone interview from the bus.

Noticing that Vision of the Seas was not available out of Baltimore toward the end of 2026, Dormire booked a trip for her group next April, before the ship relocates. After that, she’s unsure what they might book.

Ships based in New York are often significantly larger, which is not desirable for Dormire’s group of retirees.

Carnival will continue to operate in Baltimore, but the cruise lines are not necessarily equivalent. Royal Caribbean is considered to be a bit more upscale, while Carnival has a reputation of being rowdier.

When the Vision of the Seas migrates south, their group might, too, Dormire said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you find us on a bus [again] on our way to Florida,” she said.