Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay has long been its highest-rated destination by passengers. To build on that, the cruise line is building more Perfect Days, essentially beach and pool resorts that are included with your cruise, and Beach Clubs, similar destinations which will cost extra.
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty explained the company’s strategy during its third-quarter earnings call.
“Earlier today, we announced the Royal Beach Club Santorini, further expanding our portfolio of exclusive destinations, extending our brand’s reach beyond the ship, and meaningfully enhancing the guest experience,” he shared.
That’s part of a broader effort by the cruise line.
Royal Caribbean plans on making destination an extension of its cruise ships.
“Together with the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, Perfect Day Mexico, and others, we expect to increase our exclusive land-based destination portfolio from two to eight by 2028. These initiatives reflect the thoughtful, sustained investment behind our commercial flywheel and reinforce the strength of our vacation platform,” he added.
TheStreet co-Editor-in-Chief and Editor in Chief of TravelHost’s Come Cruise With Me Daniel Kline shared his thoughts on Royal Caribbean’s latest moves from the deck of one of its ships, Utopia of the Seas.
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Royal Caribbean builds out destination strategy
Transcript:
Daniel Kline: Royal Caribbean appears to be two steps ahead of Carnival Norwegian, all the competition. So, first of all, they are building private destinations. I’m actually right outside Coco Cay, which is sort of the private beach that changed everything.
It has a water park, it has a beach club, there’s an adult-only pool. All of those things cost a little bit of extra money, but you can also have a great day for free. Royal Caribbean is building another Perfect Day in Cozumel, and then they’re building beach clubs in Nassau, Santorini, and Costa Maya.
Editor’s note: The Perfect Day is in Costa Maya and the Beach Club is in Cozumel.
Those are going to be added-fee beach clubs. You’re going to pay somewhere between $100 and $200, but you’re going to get to spend a day. That’s sort of an extension of the ship, bigger pools, beaches, drinks, food, all of that.
No other cruise line has done that. That is a real game changer because I’m sitting here on Utopia of the Seas. This ship is too big to go to a lot of ports.
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So, the cruise lines have essentially, or at least Royal Caribbean has, decided that the cruise ship is the destination, and that the destinations are often just going to be an extended version of the cruise ship.
The other thing Royal Caribbean has done, and I think this is a game changer, is they are changing their loyalty program. So now, no matter which Royal Caribbean line you sail on, that’s Royal Caribbean, that’s Celebrity, that’s Silversea, you’re going to be able to decide where your loyalty points get assigned.
That means as a loyal Royal Caribbean cruiser, if I go on Celebrity, I can still build up my status on Royal Caribbean. No other cruise line does that. No other cruise line even matches status between their own lines.
It’s a game changer, and it’s going to be a massive advantage for Royal Caribbean.
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Royal Caribbean bets big on destination strategy
