Royal Caribbean takes cruisers to more than 300 different locations around the world each year, from the Caribbean to Mexico, Alaska, Europe and beyond.
But there’s one destination above all others that’s consistently the most popular with travelers. If you guessed a well-known locale like Greece or Italy, you’d be wrong.
The destination that cruisers consistently rave about more than any other is the cruise line’s private island: Perfect Day at CocoCay.
“People come from that experience super happy,” Michael Bayley, president and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean International, said during a panel discussion today at the Northstar’s annual CruiseWorld convention, which is taking place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Perhaps even more interestingly, Bayley said the cruise line’s private islands are all designed based on feedback from guests and their requests. In other words, when creating its private island offerings, Royal Caribbean is aiming to address exactly what guests say they want in an island getaway or their perfect vacation day.
“For example, for Perfect Day we asked guests through focus groups and surveys to define their perfect day,” Bayley continued.
“At the end of the day [what people want is] not complicated,” Bayley explained. “People were really looking for a chill, quality experience. They wanted to put their feet in the sand. They wanted to drink a cold beer. They wanted to know that their kids are engaged and happy.”
Those vacation goals set Royal Caribbean on a design course focused on what Bayley called “thrill and chill.”
“The Perfect Day product is that combination [thrill and chill],” Bayley said adding that Perfect Day at CocoCay “really does tick the box in terms of what the guest told us they were seeking in a very simple way.”
“However, it’s a quality simple way,” he added. “There’s a huge amount of quality built into those [private island] destinations. We have used all of our knowledge and expertise in creating the right experience at Perfect Day.”
Bayley’s comments were made at the three-day CruiseWorld event in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which brought together a long list of cruise industry leaders and hundreds of travel advisors.
During his commentary at CruiseWorld, Bayley also shared that Royal Caribbean’s portfolio of private offerings will continue to grow over the coming months and years. To that end, Royal Caribbean will open a new island in the Asia Pacific region in 2027. There are also plans for a new Royal beach club in Santorini, Greece (a destination that Bayley described as the number one desired destination in the Mediterranean in terms of interest.)
“We have, and we will continue to expand and grow along with the company and brand,” Bayley said. “We continue to add capacity.”
Bayley was joined on stage for the panel discussion by Laura Hodges Bethge, president Celebrity Cruises.
Hodges Bethge was asked to talk about Celebrity’s entrance into the river cruising space, a style of cruising that parent company Royal Caribbean had not appeared interested in until recently.
In January 2025, it was announced that the Celebrity brand would usher in a new era in river cruising with Celebrity River Cruises. The new brand is kicking off with an initial order of 10 river ships, two in its first year. The Celebrity Compass is set to debut in August 2027 with five itineraries, and the Celebrity Seeker will start sailing in October 2027 with seven itineraries.
Hodges Bethge was asked to discuss “what changed” in the company’s outlook that encouraged it to get into cruising.
In addition to noting that river cruising “was ripe for innovation,” Hodges Bethge said: “In the Royal Caribbean group, over half of our guests have taken a river cruise. So, we want to keep them with us, within our family.We want to [be able to offer the] vacations and the experiences they want to have. So, we thought Celebrity was the best place to start”
Hodges Bethge also stressed that the company is very serious about its extension into river cruising.
“We’ve been very clear that this is not a hobby for us. We intend to be a major player in the space,” she continued, but would not confirm any details beyond the 10 ships the company has already committed to.
However, Hodges Bethge did reveal that the initial river product offering has been a significant kit with travelers.
When priority booking for the new Celebrity river cruises opened a few months ago, all of the available spaces sold out in just six minutes. And later, when general access booking opened, all available reservations sold out in just a few hours.
But speaking directly to the travel advisor audience that was in attendance at CruiseWorld, Hodges Bethge said there’s still a possibility of securing a slot on the highly popular sailings.
“As you know, guests cancel for different reasons, so if you have guests that are really passionate about getting on for the 2027 season, just keep checking back,” she said.
As for revealing any details about what might be on tap for Celebrity River Cruises, Hodges Bethge remained mum. “We haven’t announced yet,” she said. “That said, we’ve been very clear, we want to be a major player. So there will be more [information] coming soon on that.”
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Richard Fain. (photo via Royal Caribbean International Media)
In addition to Bayley and Hodges Bethge, Royal Caribbean’s former chairman and CEO Richard Fain took to the stage at CruiseWorld today.
Fain was on hand to talk about his new book titled Delivering the Wow, which is focused on his decade’s long career and how he built a culture of innovation and continuous improvement that transformed the cruise industry.
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