Young people are taking over cruise ships.
Demand for a Royal Caribbean cruise vacation has never been hotter, and there's a shift in who's booking them.
Speaking at an event in New York City revealing their private destination plans, Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley told the audience the average age of its customers is no longer Baby Boomers or Gen-X.
"The average age is a Millennial now," said Mr. Bayley in talking about the shifting demographics of who's going on a cruise.
According to Bayley, on short getaway cruises, 2 out of 3 guests are vacationing with Royal Caribbean for the first time.
More than 40% of Royal Caribbean cruises are 5 nights or less.
Given the direction Royal Caribbean is headed with opening new beach clubs around the world over the next few years, catering to Millennials and their families makes sense for the company.
The Pew Research Center defines millennials as those born between 1981 and 1996, which means they're people that are between 29 and 44 years old today.
They're bringing their kids onboard Royal Caribbean ships, and are the dominate age group onboard.
Why are Millennials embracing cruising so much? Two factors are the affordability of cruises compared to traditional land vacations and the increasing desire for unique, shareable experiences.
That second part is at the heart of Royal Caribbean's big destination push.
New places you can spend time together
If you look at Perfect Day Mexico, Lelepa, or any of the beach clubs, you're going to quickly notice these are all built on the foundation of creating memories for families.
Whether you're at the Giant Flamingo DJ bar in Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, going down the nearly hour-long lazy river in Perfect Day Mexico, or at the swim-up bar in Cozumel, the overarching goal is to offer Royal Caribbean cruisers things they can do for everyone in the family.
"Our guests are looking for memories. They're trying to find first experiences. It's why people go on vacation, frankly," said Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider.
To that point, Royal Caribbean made water the core pillar of all the areas they showed off.
Why? Because that's what Royal Caribbean's customers are telling them they want.
"We hear this all the time from our guests. It's view water; in water; toes in sand water; drink water; Water comes throughout everything that we do."
A great example of this combination of water and family memories is in which water slides are being added to Perfect Day Mexico.
There are more raft slides than body slides because customers love them. It's more fun to go down a water slide with someone you know, and it's a shared experience.
There will be more than 30 slides in Perfect Day Mexico, and the tallest family raft slide is designed for four to six riders at once so you can experience it together.
Royal Caribbean also developed party cabanas that can handle up to 20 people in Perfect Day Mexico. That's in addition to the Ultimate Family Cabana in Nassau.
Both types of cabanas are for big groups that want to share in making memories. It has its own dedicated bathroom, its own bar. It'll have its own bartender.
Of course, the world's biggest lazy river is going to be a hit with just about everyone in the family.
Adding a lazy river was the most requested feature Royal Caribbean heard from its customers, so they're adding it to Perfect Day Mexico.
Estimates are it could take 45-60 minutes to make one loop around the lazy river.
