New-to-cruise customers are up by double-digits compared to the previous year, Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, reported during the company’s second quarter earnings call, and repeat rates are stronger as well.
Michael Bayley, president and CEO of the Royal Caribbean International brand, said “the volume of new-to-cruise passengers is significantly higher on short product than it is on longer voyages. It’s just a much easier product to purchase. It’s only a few days. It’s less investment of time for new-to-cruise. And we found that when you get the product right, you can stimulate it a large amount of demand,”
Mr Liberty said on a Q2 earnings call: “Our addressable market is growing, and we are attracting more customers into our vacation ecosystem. New-to-cruise customers are up double-digits versus last year, and at the same time, we are seeing stronger repeat rates,” Once booked, guests are quickly engaging with us and buying significantly more onboard experiences per booking than in the second quarter of last year. This quarter, we took delivery of Utopia of the Seas, the ultimate weekend getaway, a shift positioned to be another game changer for our short Caribbean product. Our short Caribbean cruise product is an important entry point for new-to-cruise and new-to-brand with nearly seven in 10 guests following in these categories and always skewing more towards younger customers.”
