by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:45 PM ET, Thu November 7, 2024
Royal Caribbean Group is leaning into what travel industry
watchers have termed a “golden age” for cruise vacations, adding new vessels
and land-based products for experience-seeking travelers, company officials
said Thursday at the CruiseWorld conference in Fort Lauderdale.
Beginning last year, Royal Caribbean, along with other “Big Three” operators Carnival
Corp. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) all posted record passenger
embarkations and results. This year, each company has shattered booking volume records
and booked positions.
During a panel discussion with moderator Arnie Weissman, editor-in-chief
of Travel Weekly, Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, said
there is every reason for those trends to continue.
“There are a lot of secular and demographic trends that are
moving very favorably into travel and especially the cruise space,” said
Liberty.
“Demographically, we’re seeing a lot more multi-generational
travel,” he explained. “People want a lot less stuff, they want more experiences.”
Weissman also queried Liberty about the factors behind the
industry’s rapid post-pandemic growth.
“[Travelers’] awareness around what modern day cruising is in
line with what it actually is today,” Liberty said. “We’ve fought for decades to
articulate what the modern-day cruising experience is, and we’ve gotten there
finally."
He continued, “Our brands are so tuned in today on what the
customer is looking for. We’ve done an exceptional job of designing [and]
building the product, whether that’s on sea or on land, that is very tuned into
what the guest is looking for.”
Perfect Day at CocoCay entrance (Photo Credit: Eric Bowman)
Weissman also mentioned that one-third of Royal Caribbean
guests are first-time cruisers and another one-third are new to Royal
Caribbean’s brands, a trend Liberty said is key to the operator’s expansion.
“Half of our guests are millennials or younger,” said
Liberty. “So we’re bringing in more younger guests. When you bring in assets
like Utopia of the Seas, where [guests] have the best weekend of their lives and
are going to places like Perfect Day at CoCo Cay, we’re attracting more and more
of that new-to-cruise consumer.”
Liberty said travel advisors have made significant contributions
that have enabled Royal Caribbean to reach its present level of success.
“Our travel partners are so effective,” he said. “The
feedback we’ve gotten from them through years and decades about the reasons why
a customer [is] chooses a land-based-vacation experience versus a cruise, we
take that feedback and either change our products by upgrading them, or by
changing the soft good or stuff that might happen onboard.”
Liberty also outlined experiences he said are broadening
the range of experiences the company can offer to travelers.
He said Royal Caribbean’s planned Royal Beach Club will offer “incredible beaches and pools”
and will “enhance the experience at different ports around the world that our
guests are looking for.”
The company is planning Royal Beach Club facilities in Nassau,
Bahamas, Cozumel, Mexico and Vanuatu. “It’s about how to enhance the
experience for our guests, and this is what that was born out of,” said
Liberty.
Weissman also mentioned increased onboard spending among
cruise passengers post-pandemic. Liberty said the increase in guests’ onboard expenditures
ranges across all categories.
“The real change for us is our ability to curate and put in
front of the customer before they get on the cruise, what they can do (onboard),”
he said. “So we’re getting more reps and more share of wallet just because they
have the time to evaluate and purchase them. Our pre-cruise engines are stimulating
that significant change in demand.”
Liberty identified meeting European and global fuel
emission standards as a challenge going forward.
“We’re all on this net zero journey. I announced on our
last call that we reached our emissions target for 2025 a year earlier. So we’re
accelerating this as fast as we can.”
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