For more than a year Royal Caribbean has been talking about building smaller ships.
The cruise line has been pushed on this issue by loyal passengers who have seen the cruise line pursue a bigger-is-better strategy, ordering more Oasis- and Icon-Class megaships.
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Many cruise passengers like smaller ships because they offer a more classic cruise experience. Some older passengers feel the older ships were more elegant and offered a more refined experience than the larger, more family-friendly ships.
In addition, smaller ships can dock in places that larger ships can't. For passengers who consider a ship's itinerary, not the amenities it offers, the smaller ships become very important.
Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Jason Liberty addressed the matter during Royal Caribbean's second-quarter-earnings call.
Royal Caribbean older ships are smaller
"And of course, the other thing ... that's important when you think about ship classes, whether they could be small, they could be larger, is ... that we also have ships that are reaching 30, 35 years," Liberty said. "And so some of this is not just about we want to build same-size ships, smaller ships. It's also replacing ships that will eventually kind of reach their end of life."
Those older ships are the cruise line's smaller classes, Liberty confirmed.
"We're looking potentially at smaller ships that will probably replace some of those older ships," he said.
"It's a little bit less about the sourcing market. It's more about where those ships can go. It's getting them into maybe some of the more unique and bespoke destinations to further diversify our footprint around the world."
Image source: Shutterstock
No Royal Caribbean small ships are coming soon
Liberty has formally shared the name "Discovery Class" as the working title for the cruise line's new class of smaller ships. And while the CEO has said that design work has begun, Royal Caribbean hasn't set a specific date on which it will add one of the new ships to its fleet.
"I think when your question comes about the drivable market, the ships that you're referring to that we're looking potentially at, smaller ships will probably replace some of those older ships," he said.
Those comments have given hope to the cruise line's passengers who want newer and smaller ships. But those plans come with a major caveat, according to comments Liberty made on the company's most recent earnings call.
"I think for the most part, you certainly have seen all of our orders through 2027 and maybe even into 2028," he said during the Q3 earnings call.
The current order book includes three Royal Caribbean Icon-Class ships, one Oasis-Class ship, and an Edge-Class ship for Celebrity Cruises.
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"We continue to look to moderately grow our fleet, moderately grow each of our brands," Liberty said. "And again, as just a general reminder, when we order ships and we take ships, they're not at all going to the same brand, they're not all going to the same market, they're not all going to the same itinerary. We operate a very large global footprint."
New small ships are coming for Royal Caribbean but the first one likely won't arrive before 2029.
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