When Royal Caribbean moved Allure of the Seas to short 3-to-4-day sailings out of Port Canaveral in November 2023, it was making a clear statement. The cruise line was taking a top-tier Oasis-class ship and using it for shorter sailings in a port that's relatively close to Disney World and Universal Studios.
It was a bold attempt to get families visiting the Orlando theme parks to add a short cruise to their vacation. Royal Caribbean decided to put one of its nicest ships into the short-cruise market as a way to make sure that anyone who reluctantly took their first cruise had the best experience possible.
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The cruise line doubled down on that idea in July when it replaced Allure with the brand-new Utopia of the Seas. That marked the first time Royal Caribbean has taken new hardware and used it for short sailings.
Tony Barnette talked about Royal Caribbean's efforts to expand its audience on his La Lido Loca YouTube video series.
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Royal Caribbean wants younger customers
"There is an article out by the Wall Street Journal that hit (me in the face with a fact that kind of blew my mind. Here's the title of the thing. 'Cruise companies cater to millennials with quick escapes and private islands.' And I thought, okay, we've seen that," Barnette said.
One of the facts in the article surprised the social media influencer.
"There's been a lot of speculation as to why Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas is doing short sailings that primarily go to CocoCay. But here's the thing. There's this quote here. 'At Royal Caribbean, one in two passengers is a millennial between 27 and 44 years old or younger," he shared.
That quote wasn't speculation, it was from Royal Caribbean CFO Naftali Holtz.
"Royal Caribbean aims to attract all travelers from families to baby boomers and 20-somethings. But with the uptick in younger guests, the company is working to cultivate the next generation of cruisers," Holtz continued.
Barnette was surprised by those numbers.
"Wow. That's a shocking number to me that on Royal Caribbean because the normal age skews late 40s, I think if you look across the whole industry. Royal Caribbean, one in two passengers is a millennial 27 to 44. I would love to see what it's like on the other cruise lines," he added.
Barnette speculated as to what this means for the future of cruising.
"You hear a lot of people that have cruised for a long period of time saying cruising's different. It's not the same as it used to be. Could the main contributing factor to the difference in cruising be a shift of focus from older cruisers to younger cruisers?" he asked.
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He seemed to put it all together in a sort of "circle of life" realization.
"Has that always been the way it works? Certainly. It makes sense from a business perspective. Yeah, the boomers, they got a pile of money, but eventually, the boomers will go away and they need the next generation of cruiser. So yeah, the millennials, we've got them for a few generations," he added.
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