Five moves Royal Caribbean is making to overhaul its weekend cruise business for the future

Royal Caribbean has been one of the biggest cruise lines in the world since the company began operations in 1968, and it’s flipping the script on the short cruise market in 2024.

Through a combination of new cruise ships, redeployments, and investments in the ports they visit, Royal Caribbean wants to raise customer expectations for what a weekend cruise is like and set a new standard for the cruise industry.

The company has methodically positioned some of its most important new ships along side land-side investments, and its recent announcement of new deployments indicate a clear direction: Royal Caribbean wants to target the new cruise market like no other line has done before.

Royal Caribbean is addressing a market need, where new cruisers are hesitant to go on longer sailings, but don’t want to sail on older hardware. In following the old saying, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”, Royal Caribbean will put new ships serving up 3- and 4-night cruises instead of traditionally placing older hardware for those sailings.

The new cruise market is single-handedly the largest source of growth within the cruise industry, and capitalizing on sourcing new customers from this pool of growth is how any cruise line can generate the most revenue quickly.

In looking through Royal Caribbean’s recent announcements and deployments, it’s clear the cruise line is poised to begin a new approach to not only short cruises, but how it attracts new customers.

Utopia of the Seas

The first major focus for Royal Caribbean in appealing to the new cruiser market is to launch Utopia of the Seas later this summer and offer short cruises only.

Utopia of the Seas will be the sixth Oasis Class ship, which are the biggest cruise ships in the world.  The previous five Oasis Class ships all began service by sailing 7-night cruises.

Instead, Utopia will offer 3- and 4-night cruises from Port Canaveral in July 2024.

By starting off with short sailings, Royal Caribbean hopes a brand new cruise ship will get the attention of the public, especially when people hear they can sail on Utopia for just the weekend. It’s a short commitment, and it gives new cruisers peace of mind that if they don’t like cruising, it’s only a couple of days.

Royal Caribbean’s decision to homeport Utopia in Port Canaveral is another component to their strategy.  Port Canaveral is just under an hour away from the family vacation capital of the world, Orlando.

The company has made no secret that it is targeting the family vacation market, and wants to compete with the Orlando resorts that currently dominate that demographic.

If a weekend cruise is too short, Royal Caribbean has Icon of the Seas and Star of the Seas ready as equally compelling alternatives that offer traditional 7-night cruises.

As impressive as Utopia will be, the two Icon Class ships are even more appealing to families.

Icon of the Seas was designed to be the ultimate vacation for a young family, and it has more amenities, activities, and staterooms than any other ship has offered for children.

Read more: Icon of the Seas guide and features

The plan is entice new cruisers with a short cruise, and if they love it, then they’ll want to come back for more and there are two Icon Class ships waiting for them.  If a weekend cruise is too short, then they can jump right to Icon or Star. In either case, Royal Caribbean thinks these ships have the right product that no other line can match.

CocoCay expansion

When you take a short cruise from Florida, you’re going to The Bahamas and that’s where a new cruiser will get to meet part two of Royal Caribbean’s master plan.

Perfect Day at CocoCay is the name of Royal Caribbean’s private island, and it’s been a guest satisfaction grand slam for the company ever since the island’s refurbishment in 2019.

A combination of thrills, relaxation, food, and activities galore have made CocoCay the place families can enjoy without much fuss. Since it’s Royal Caribbean’s private enclave, there’s no pushy vendors, one place to find all your tours and add-ons, and lots of included amenities.

Since the island’s revamp, Royal Caribbean has slowly expanded what guests can do there during the day. It opened a secluded beach club and earlier this year added an adults-only beach.

While the rest of the island is family focused, Hideaway Beach offers an escape for adults who want a break from it all. It’s a giant pool party with beach access, and the goal is to give customers somewhere else to consider spending their day.

Just like their cruise ships, CocoCay is meant to offer something for everyone.  There are places to go with young children, teens, and kid-free spots too.

Short cruises on Wonder of the Seas

In March 2024, Royal Caribbean made another strategic move to redeploy Wonder of the Seas to the same short cruises as Utopia.

Wonder is the newest Oasis Class ship after Utopia, and is just two years old.  She will offer three- and four-night sailings out of Miami starting in August 2025.

With Wonder in Miami and Utopia in Port Canaveral, Royal Caribbean now has two of its best ships in the two biggest cruise markets in the world offering short cruises. 

It’s the same gameplan that Royal Caribbean has for Port Canaveral, but in Miami. Just like Utopia, Wonder will visit ports in the Bahamas and look to attract more new cruisers than ever before.

Nassau Beach Club

The short cruise market has always been good to Royal Caribbean, but they knew they had a problem with the primary port of call: Nassau.

Royal Caribbean regularly surveys its customers to get feedback on their vacations, and Nassau, Bahamas ranked in the bottom ten percent, according to Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley.

Customers told Royal Caribbean there wasn’t anything enticing enough in Nassau, so the line took matters into their own hands.

In 2025, Royal Caribbean will open its first Royal Beach Club, which is an extra-cost all-inclusive beach on Paradise Island, just across the waterway from where Royal Caribbean’s ships dock their ships in Nassau.

Unlike Perfect Day at CocoCay, this will not be open to every single passenger. Rather, it will be a limited capacity area reserved just for Royal Caribbean passengers and you’ll need to pay to get in.  

The idea is to offer something no other cruise line can in Nassau: a tropical beach day escape with the familiarity of Royal Caribbean. All the benefits of a shore excursion without concern of dealing with a third party.

The Royal Beach Club will have restaurants, pools, cabanas, and plenty of beach space too.

When it opens, the beach club will ensure taking a weekend Bahamas cruise means no compromise, from ship to shore.

Quantum of the Seas in Los Angeles

On the other side of the country is another big play by Royal Caribbean to improve its position.

Quantum of the Seas will sail from Los Angeles starting in October 2025, becoming among the largest cruise ship to ever sail from there.

Quantum will join Navigator of the Seas in offering cruises from LA, and will sail to ports of call in Mexico.

You’ll be able sail on 3-, 4-, and 5-night cruises to Mexico and Catalina Island, California on a ship that offers so much more to do than ships traditionally based in this market.

The Quantum Class ships offer plenty of restaurants, bars, theaters and attractions too. There’s bumper cars, full production shows, a sky diving simulator, surfing simulator, and observational pod that takes you over 200 feet above sea level.

California cruises to the Mexican Riviera have traditionally been dominated by other lines, but Royal Caribbean is doubling its presence in order to expand its foothold there. By placing a ship as big as Quantum, it demonstrates how much of a difference choosing Royal Caribbean is compared to other lines.