Royal Caribbean is just months away from opening its first beach club, and it's expected to be an incredible beach option for cruise guests.
Opening in December 2025, Royal Caribbean is trying something totally new with a private beach day experience available exclusively to Royal Caribbean passengers (and local Bahamians). It's not a private island day, but instead offers an optional purchase for the day.
Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is described by cruise line executives as "the ultimate beach day" and progress is moving swiftly now with construction taking a rapid pace.
While the official opening with paying guests should begin around December 21st, a ribbon cutting event will take place on December 13, 2025.
I was invited by Royal Caribbean to tour the active construction site and get a sense of the scale of the plans they have, along with an early glimpse of what a day here is all about.
Jay Schneider, Royal Caribbean's Chief Product Innovation Officer, walked with me through the area to describe what we'll eventually see.
Tender ride to get to the beach club
The new beach club is a short tender ride away from where cruise ships dock.
Guests that purchased a pass will walk halfway down the pier to a meeting location. Currently, it's a generic white building where tours meet, but in the future, it will be the embarkation point for these tenders.
Royal Caribbean built a fleet of colorful tenders to take guests to the beach club and back. The tender rides are included in the admission, and they run continuously all day.
Tenders will drop off at one of two spots. Given the 17 acre size, it's not very wide but is quite long and choosing the right stop may save a lot of steps later.
When complete, there will be a a 43-foot Crown & Anchor logo, even taller than the one on the side of Star of the Seas.
Three neighborhoods, three experiences
The beach club will blend modern amenities with a sense of history.
"The design idea is super fun. It’s kind of a lost Bahamian beach club, as if it’s been around for 50 years. You’ll notice it, the colors are gorgeous. The experience is going to be really tremendous."
The new beach club has three primary zones.
Chill Beach
The idea here is to provide a serene area for enjoying a day in the water.
Compared to Party Cove, this lacks the energy of that neighborhood, but that doesn't mean this is a quiet area either.
"The beach is just stunning," Mr. Schneider explained. "The cabanas will be stunning. The pools will be stunning. This is the chill beach pool. Every pool has a swim-up bar."
Party Cove
If you want music and dancing with your beach day, head to Party Cove.
It will be home to the world's largest swim-up bar, and has a two level party building. At the top is the DJ, with rentable party zones on either side.
"This thing is an engineering marvel. There’s really only one manufacturer in the world who can bend steel in this arc," Mr. Schneider pointed out.
Family Beach
Envisioned as an area for kids and parents to enjoy together, Family Beach still has great beach and water, but steps down the party atmosphere.
"Stunning beach, great cabanas, gorgeous views. Great zero entry swimming pool on both sides.
This is also where you'll eventually find the Ultimate Family Cabana.
The foundation for it is all we see today, but Mr. Schneider thinks it's going to be jaw-dropping for anyone willing to pay for it, "kind of that really premium, opulent, over-the-top cabana experience with some dedicated slide and dedicated plunge pool."
Lots to eat and enjoy
Beyond the pools and beach, there's still a lot to enjoy around the beach club.
Admission into the beach club gets you food and drink included, as it's an all-inclusive experience.
There are three Paradise Grill locations, where you can order from, "a great mix of Bahamian-inspired food as well as American classics."
I was particularly happy to hear all the pools will be heated, which is important on those winter cruises.
Moving forward with construction
Construction hasn’t been without setbacks. Schneider noted how Hurricane Erin forced rework on certain parts of the site.
"The storm surge brought the ocean up onto the island. And so we’ve had to make some adjustments. Some of the things you build, you have to rebuild before it’s even open."
According to Schneider, about 500 people are working on the island and progress is starting to take a rapid pace.
Come for the beach, stay for the views
In walking from end to end of the club while in various stages of construction, one thing is clear: Royal Beach Club Paradise Island will be a stunning location for a beach day.
Throughout my visit, I saw crystal clear blue water around me, and the foundation for what I think will be an amazing pool day too.
The scale of this beach club is much bigger than I expected based on renderings and aerial photos.
This isn't being built to be a Royal Caribbean beach, rather, they have set their sights on it being the flagship example of its new "ultimate beach day" concept.
With heated pools, iconic structures, diverse neighborhoods, and Royal Caribbean’s trademark flair, Schneider made clear this will be far more than just another stop in Nassau.
I think the difference maker for this beach club over any other excursion choice around is this club will incorporate all the lessons learned from Perfect Day at CocoCay. Given how wildly popular CocoCay has been, there's a good chance lifting and using that experience in Nassau should be a win for passengers.
The goal is simple: deliver an incredible experience that offers cruisers something heads-and-shoulders above what's available in Nassau today.
Day passes begin at $139 per person
The cost to get in will start at $139 per person, per day for a day pass, but expect prices to go up from there based on demand.
As an example, my January 2026 visit is priced at $250 per person, per day.
You could spend more and rent a cabana or a party deck to include more people with your day, along with reserved amenities.
When the club is fully operational and ready to admit guests, they expect it to host about 1 in 3 Royal Caribbean guests in Nassau.
In the first weeks, expect capacity to be lower as they ramp up the operation.
