Royal makes 'powerful' new-to-cruise statement ahead of Utopia launch
Harry KembleRoyal Caribbean Group has reported a 16% year-on-year spike in new-to-cruise customers, thanks in part to its private island destination Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean Group president and chief executive, noted how the company’s “addressable” cruise market was “discovering our differentiated vacation experiences”.
“Our brands continue to attract new and younger customers,” he said, adding: “Millennials and younger generations have gained an 11 percentage points share compared to 2019, and today almost one in two guests are millennials or younger.
“One of the incredible things that we’re seeing out of destinations like Perfect Day is one out of two of our guests are millennial or younger. That to me is a very powerful statement.”
Liberty explained how new-to-cruise guests are “five times more likely” to sail with a Royal brand again. “The repeat rates that we’re seeing are exceptional,” he said.
“It’s a lot because not only are we bringing that full incredible experience that our crew delivers on our ships, but we’re enhancing the experience in the destinations.
Booking “consistently outpaced last year” during the first quarter and through April, Liberty added, as he reported a total revenue of $3.7 billion for the first three-month period of 2024 and a net income of $360 million.
This year Royal expects to take 3.2 million to Perfect Day, up from 2.6 million.
“People want to sail on ships that go to Perfect Day and they want to sail on the ships that go to the [Royal] Beach Club [on Paradise Island in 2025],” he said.
“I think it’s proven to be incredibly successful. When you wrap that up with the kind of hardware we’ve introduced, for example, Icon [of the Seas], which has been an unbelievable success. I mean, beyond our wildest dreams success.”
Liberty predicted strong booking levels would continue following this summer’s launch of Utopia of the Seas which will be based in Port Canaveral, US, and offer short cruises to Perfect Day.
Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International president, said: “It really is another product that’s squarely in this competitive space of land-based vacations and we’re seeing huge demand coming for this product.
“And you think about the combination of a three, four-day product – like Utopia – going to Perfect Day, and then in 2025, it’ll go to Perfect Day and the Beach Club.”
When asked during the earnings call whether Royal would consider offering river cruises, Liberty said the group is "always evaluating opportunities".
"River is an area where we do see some overlap, not a lot of overlap, but we do see some overlap occurring and that could be something that we would consider at some point in the future," he said.
However, he added: "But at this point in time, we’re very focused on excelling in our core, growing our core and also further building out our destination platform.
"All of that, as we’re clearly seeing, is working to deliver a very high return on investment profile and producing strong shareholder returns."
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