Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) essentially has two types of cruises.
It uses older/smaller ships to cruise port-based trips. These are trips where most people visit bucket list destinations and the ship sort of acts like a floating hotel.
For the second type of trip -- and this is what Royal Caribbean's namesake brand has been leaning into -- its the ship that's the destination. The cruise line has been building massive Oasis-class ships (with plans for an even larger Icon class underway) which mostly run Caribbean/Bahamas itineraries stopping at more humdrum stops including Nassau and Cozumel, which many frequent cruisers have visited regularly.
These large ships, which offer water slides, endless dining choices, unique entertainment, and more can't stop in many of the smaller ports. They either don't fit at the docks or carry more passengers than these destinations can accommodate.
Sailing on larger Royal Caribbean ships puts your vacation in the cruise line's hands. That's something the cruise line has embraced with plans to continue to enhance its Perfect Day at CocoCay private island.
Image source: Daniel Kline/TheStreet
Royal Caribbean Plans Private Destination Growth
Royal Caribbean Group CEO sat down with Matt Hochberg of the Royal Carribean Blog for an exclusive interview onboard Wonder of the Seas for its naming ceremony. He shared some thoughts with Hochberg, whose blog is not affiliated with the cruise line, on the cruise line's plans for investment in its private islands and a planned new destination on Nassau's Paradise Island.
The plans at CocoCay include a new adults-only area Hideaway Beach. Liberty spoke about that plan earlier this year during the company's first-quarter earnings call.
"On the destination front, we continue to make progress on the expansion of perfect day at CocoCay with the addition of Hideaway Beach. Hideaway Beach will make Perfect Day at CocoCay even more perfect with an entirely new experience expanding capacity to the island," he said.
That project remains on track for a late 2023 opening, he told Hochberg. In addition, plans for a Nassau Beach Club are still moving forward.
"Yeah, there's nothing that has been canceled," he shared.
Royal Caribbean Plans a Nassau Beach Destination
Nassau has generally been a port where experienced cruisers either stay on the ship or book a day pass at a resort. Royal Caribbean wants to make the stop more desirable by creating a take on its private beach concept a short ride from the cruise port.
Royal Caribbean had planned to build a private beach club -- sort of a version of its CocoCay private island -- on Nassau. Work on that project had stopped due to the pandemic. Now, it has been restarted, although the cruise line has not shared any details on an expected completion date.
Called the Royal Beach Club, this planned private destination would cost $50 million for a 13-acre location featuring two 35,000-square-foot dining pavilions capable of accommodating 1,500 passengers each.
It would also have "a 26,000 square foot pool, a 4,000 square foot “splash pad” for children; 14 beach bars; restrooms and cabanas on about two acres of land.
Royal Caribbean has not shared whether this would be an included destination, like CocoCay, an added-fee destination, or most likely some combination of both.
