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.

The cruise industry as a whole had a great 2024, but Royal Caribbean clearly stood out as having one of its best years ever.

It wasn't too long ago that all the cruise lines were mired in crushing debt, negative profits, and a public perception problem all tied to the events of 2020.

Royal Caribbean's recovery has taken a meteoric path, seeing profits significantly higher than its peers along the way. 

In 2024, the cruise line truly flexed its muscles with a series of new ships, bold strategic moves, and it's counting its winnings all the way to the bank.

CEO reflects on the year

With Christmas approaching, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley posted on LinkedIn his reflections on Royal Caribbean's meteoric year.

Milestone after milestone, accolade after accolade, Mr. Bayley celebrated a big year for the cruise line and is already looking forward to an even bigger year in 2025.

Talk about an iconic year! Or, was it the utopia of all years? However you look at it, 2024 was an extraordinary year for Royal Caribbean, filled with milestones that underscore our commitment to delivering the absolute ultimate vacations. We kicked the year off with the debut of Icon of the Seas, a first-of-its-kind ship combining record-breaking features for every kind of family and vacationer, with Lionel Messi, the Icon of Icon, headlining its naming celebration. We caught our breath and then debuted, Utopia of the Seas, dubbed The World’s Biggest Weekend℠, offering the ultimate short getaway.

We announced exciting new destinations, including Royal Beach Club Paradise Island in The Bahamas and Royal Beach Club Cozumel in Mexico, offering the ultimate beach day experience with stunning beaches, pools, swim-up bars, and local cultural touches. Plus, we celebrated the opening of Hideaway Beach, the first adults-only hideaway escape on Perfect Day at CocoCay.

We also announced the upcoming glow-up of Allure of the Seas, set to redefine European adventures in 2025, and revealed our plans for Star of the Seas, which will soon join our fleet, doubling the world’s best vacation options from Port Canaveral. AND, we signed an agreement for the fourth Icon Class ship, continuing our legacy of revolutionary experiences.

This year, we also continued our strong partnership with Inter Miami CF, creating memorable experiences for families and fans. Together with Make-A-Wish, we had the privilege of granting the wishes of 23 children, offering them unforgettable adventures on Icon of the Seas and the chance to meet the Inter Miami squad and Lionel Messi.

Our Royal Caribbean team, shoreside and shipboard, has achieved so much this year that I can’t even begin to cover it all. Your dedication and hard work have been the driving force behind our success. To our trusted partners, your collaboration has been invaluable. And to our guests, thank you for letting Royal Caribbean be part of your most cherished memories and adventures. Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season and a spectacular new year!

An Iconic start to the year

The new year had barely begun when Royal Caribbean introduced its game-changing cruise ship to the world.

Icon of the Seas was launched in January 2024 and captured the attention of the world.  

New cruise ships happen frequently, but the amount of hype, interest, and attention that Icon received was unparalleled. The ship generated so much buzz from all corners of the market, that it dwarfed pretty much every other ship launch since.

In April, Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty said the launch of Icon of the Seas was a difference maker, "Our existing fleet along with our new ships continue to perform exceptionally well, highlighted by the market response to the launch of Icon of the Seas, which has exceeded all expectations."

At 250,800 gross registered tons, Icon of the Seas carries 5,610 people on a double-occupancy basis and about 7,600 passengers when every berth is filled. That's in addition to 2,350 crew members. It spans 20 decks and has its own water park onboard.

Icon has gone on to claim all sorts of accolades, along with being a popular choice among cruisers.

The introduction of a second ship

Two new Royal Caribbean ships entered service in 2024, which is out of the ordinary for any cruise line.

Utopia of the Seas began offering cruises in July 2024, and it had a different goal in mind compared to Icon.

Whereas Icon of the Seas redefined what a megaship could be, Royal Caribbean wanted to set a new standard for weekend cruises with Utopia.

Unlike every other new ship, Utopia began with just short weekend cruises. Utopia is meant to be the ultimate short getaway. In addition to all the activities onboard, there are shows, parties, and dance events meant to keep passengers in the right vibe every day of the sailing.

The aim is to deliver to customers what they've been telling the cruise line for years: they want first experiences that create family bonding moments with memories they'll take home and cherish.

Utopia of the Seas measures 236,473 gross tons, making her slightly larger than Wonder of the Seas but not quite as big as Icon of the Seas.

Opening of Hideaway Beach

Tied to the launch of Icon of the Seas, Royal Caribbean also opened its first adults-only expansion on its private island.

Hideaway Beach at Perfect Day at CocoCay opened this year, giving cruise ship passengers that wanted a break from the family experience.

Available only to guests at least 18 years old, Hideaway Beach has a giant swim-up bar with DJ, sports bar, crescent-shaped beach, new food options, and more.

It addressed a need to have an adult only space, which was one of the most requested attractions.

Revealed a new private beach in Mexico

Royal Caribbean turned a lot of heads when they announced plans to build its biggest private beach experience ever in Mexico.

Perfect Day Mexico will open in 2027 and will completely overhaul the port of Costa Maya.

Similar to Perfect Day at CocoCay, this will be an all-encompassing offering exclusive to Royal Caribbean ship passengers that will include beaches, pools, a waterpark, helium balloon ride, and many more details that have yet to be revealed.

The total project will encompass 90 hectares, with is about 220 acres. That's roughly double the size of Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Expect more details in Spring 2025.

An incredible year for its stock

The proof of how good Royal Caribbean did as a cruise line came in the financial results for the company.

Royal Caribbean Group had just about the best year you could hope for, with double-digit growth and monster revenue numbers.

Each quarter saw the company bringing in billions in revenue:

• First Quarter: $3.7 billion revenue
• Second quarter: $4.1 billion revenue
• Third quarter: $4.9 billion revenue

The company's financial success was driven by strong demand for cruising, supported by both loyal repeat customers and an increasing number of first-time travelers. Consumer spending onboard, was also a major factor, driving their numbers even higher.

Royal Caribbean (RCL) shares have soared all year long, closing at $240.30 per share before the holiday break.

Managing Royal Caribbean International is a huge task for CEO and President Michael Bayley.

The cruise line employs nearly 88,700 people, with 28 cruise ships visiting over 300 locations around the world.

It's a massive endeavor, but that doesn't mean that it's all serious!

Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean's President and CEO, also goes by Bada-bing Bayley. 

Bayley has been with the cruise line for over 40 years, and he brings a clear love and cheerfulness to the job.

He shares openly on social media about his love of Royal Caribbean, from crew member profiles to passenger stories.

If that wasn't enough evidence of his fun-loving personality, Bayley also loves self-admitted "bad dad jokes."

Here's a collection of the best ones he's shared all over the Internet—often to unamused listeners.

Why did the pony ask for a glass of water? Because it was a little horse

Bayley hails from the United Kingdom—Cardiff, Wales, to be exact. The small country borders England, with a population of just over three million.

Bayley attended university in English, graduating from the University of Bournemouth with a degree in business.

When he graduated college, he heard from a friend about a cruise line hiring in the United States.

What do you call a group of men waiting in line for a haircut? A barber-que 

In 1981, Bayley took his first-ever plane flight to the United States and began working with Royal Caribbean International.

His career started with a variety of shipboard and shoreside positions as he received an increasing amount of management responsibility.

Now, Bayley holds decades of experience in the hospitality and cruise industry.

My wife said I should do lunges to stay in shape. That would be a big step forward!

Michael Bayley shares the majority of his "bad dad jokes," on social media. He even started a series he's shared on TikTok and Facebook.

Bayley is rare among other CEOs of huge companies, who usually shy away from sharing a fun or intimate side of life.

However, Bayley often shares personal, hilarious videos, showing viewers what it's like to work for the cruise line, images of his travels, and even household fridge tours.

Why did the bicycle fall over? It was too tired

Bayley publicly shares on social media his genuine love for cruising and sharing fun moments with friends and family. 

He currently resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife and two sons.

His username on Instagram and TikTok is captaincruise guy.

Read more: Who is Royal Caribbean Group's new CEO Jason Liberty

I think my phone is broken! I clicked the home button, but I'm still in the office!

Bayley's very first position at Royal Caribbean was as an assistant purser on the Nordic Prince.

The Nordic Prince, launched in 1971, was the second-ever ship built for Royal Caribbean. 

The vessel was just over 550 feet long, and had a passenger capacity of 741 guests—a far cry from the mega-ships of today!

Read more: Royal Caribbean CEO explains why mega cruise ships are so popular 15 years after their inception

I went to the store to get a dozen bees, but I got thirteen. The guy said, don't worry, that's a free bee

The Nordic Prince sailed mostly in the Caribbean, and Bayley's job onboard was to assist with front desk administration, dealing with details like immigration, customs, crew travel, embarkation, and emergency muster lists.

He speaks fondly of the time he spent in this position. 

According to Bayley, he dealt with lots of crew and passengers at the front desk. 

He especially loved the sirloin steak and french fries served on Saturday night dinner.

What do you call a fish wearing a bowtie? Sofish-ticated!

Bayley's online dad jokes series often features guest stars at various cruising events. 

From new ship launches to President's Day cruises, Royal Caribbean's CEO doesn't miss a chance to make new jokes.

He shared this joke with Boy George of Culture Club when they performed at the 2024 President's Cruise on Oasis of the Seas.

Boy George barely cracked a smile at some of Bayley's corny jokes, but he kept laughing.

I am very afraid of a calendar. Its days are numbered

This particular dad joke was shared to TikTok, featuring Philip Smith, former head of the Bahamas Feeding Network.

The cruise line's commitment to the charity began in 2019, and it continues to donate money and food to the organization.

As of 2023, Royal Caribbean had donated over $500,000 to the Bahamas Feeding Network.

What did the chicken say when it saw lettuce? Chicken caesar salad

In addition to being a CEO and comedian, Michael Bayley is a big foodie. He enjoys the abundance of food available on Royal Caribbean ships. 

Bayley has tried his hand at being a Teppanyaki chef in Izumi Hibachi, and he can often be seen posting Royal Caribbean dining polls on his Facebook page.

His favorite restaurants span all over the world, from Sao Paulo to Hong Kong. 

According to his son, Bayley's best-cooked dish is enchiladas.

How does a French skeleton say hello? Bone-jour!

Michael Bayley was named President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International in December 2014.

Prior to that, he actually worked for the line's sister company, Celebrity Cruises. There, he delivered strong results and built up the company's "Modern Luxury" brand.

In his prior role as Royal Caribbean International's Executive Vice President, Bayley was responsible for developing three of the company's cruise lines to an international business scale: Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International. 

After working in that position for four years, he established 11 regional offices around the world, which now generate more than 50 percent of the corporation’s total revenue.

Now, he is the longtime CEO of the world's largest cruise brand—but he can always make time to crack a few jokes.

It doesn't look like Royal Caribbean will offer all-inclusive prices for a cruise anytime soon.

Royal Caribbean cruise fares typically offer a modular approach to pricing, where the base fare gets you on the cruise with a certain subset of included amenities.  Everything else costs extra, including shore excursions, most drinks, gratuities, and more.

Other cruise lines have recently made a shift to include more in their cruise fare, such as Celebrity Cruises which includes a basic drink package and internet package with its All Included fare.

A travel agent sailing on a preview sailing of Icon of the Seas asked Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley if his cruise line would make a similar move, and Mr. Bayley balked at the suggestion.

Half of passengers don't want a drink package

It doesn't seem like Mr. Bayley sees a need to include a drink package as part of the cruise fare.

Celebrity's drink package is similar to Royal Caribbean's deluxe beverage package in the sense it includes many extra cost drinks, such as beers, cocktails, sodas, and more.

Read more: Royal Caribbean drink package guide

"Our strategy has always been the unbundling of pricing to give people as much choice as they possibly can," he explained in answering the question.

"Our research says that around about 50% of the guests don't want a beverage package."

The average cost of Royal Caribbean's top drink package is around $65 to $105 per person per day, depending on the sailing.

"We've learned that unbundling is much easier and better for the guest. It also gets the price point in front of the customer, especially for families. And remember family is our is our real core target market."

Royal Caribbean's commitment to being a family cruise line above all else is self-evident with the launch of Icon of the Seas, which it considers the best alternative to a family land vacation to a place like Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Icon of the Seas features more for families to than any other ship before, and not just kids. It's designed for every member of the family.

The ship has eight neighborhoods offering an entire waterpark onboard, FlowRider surf simulator, mini-golf, and rock climbing.

Chill Island has seven different pools, with plenty of chairs nearby to enjoy the sun or shade.

Surfside is an entire area of the ship designed for young families. Parents can enjoy the Water's Edge pool at the back of the ship, while their kids enjoy Splashaway Bay and Baby Bay. Surfside also has three restaurants, an arcade, carousel, and lots of things to climb.

Unbundling offers choices

Mr. Bayley's comments focused on how much customers prefer having the discretion to add-on certain extra charges, rather than paying more up-front for a cruise fare.

"When you unbundle everything, it gives people choice and it pushes the pricing closer to their budget, which is a really important thing for families," he continued. 

"We feel like the pricing strategy that we have on the bundling, unbundling is the right path to go."

Mr. Bayley's comments echo what travel agents have been told before.  In 2020, Royal Caribbean Director of Revenue Strategy, Brittany Briggs, had a similar response when her team was asked during a webinar about all-inclusive pricing.

"We're a multigenerational cruise line with a lot of family sailing with us, so we do want to continue to be a family brand. I don't think this direction is a good fit for us," Ms. Briggs said.

"At this time we're not considering changing our pricing structure as we are truly focusing our on board experience for all of our guests."

Star Class is the exception

Mr. Bayley was quick to point out that if you move to Star Class cabins, you'll get as close to all-inclusive as Royal Caribbean can get.

"Around 10% of our total inventory, it falls into the suite category overall. So I think we're in the right place."

Is Crown's Edge too expensive?

Speaking of things that cost extra on a Royal Caribbean cruise, Mr. Bayley also took time to address concerns that the Crown's Edge experience is too pricey.

Crown's Edge is part skywalk, part ropes course, part thrill ride, and an all-out test of courage.  It's a ropes course-style attraction that goes around the ship's Crown and Anchor logo.

The initial price for this thrill attraction was $89 per person for a ride that is listed at taking 90 seconds.

Photo by Vicki Freed

Mr. Bayley pushed back on calls for a lower price because of everything involved to make it happen, "when you experience that and you see what's involved in it, there's multiple staff interactions. There's a huge amount of safety involved in it. There's a video that records your whole experience that you then receive on your phone. There's a lot that comes with the experience."

He also added that pricing helps control demand in many cases for limited opportunity experiences, "sometimes pricing is to manage just the sheer volume of expectations."

When it comes to pricing, Mr. Bayley believes a higher price is acceptable if the product matches it, "we've also learned is that if you have a genuine quality product that ticks the box and delivers the goods to the customer, you'd be surprised at how the customer is willing to pay the price for that product."

"For example, with the overwater cabanas in Coco Cay. If you've experienced the overwater cabanas, it is literally like going to heaven for the day."

"It's not cheap, but people have the most remarkable experience and they're willing to pay for that... We feel like we're on the right track."

Ultimately, he is waiting for feedback from passengers on a revenue sailing, "as we go through the next several weeks, we'll get a lot of feedback from our revenue customers. They are going to tell us that this works or that doesn't."

Will Royal Caribbean ever ban smoking? When will we get more Icon of the Seas details? Can we expect a fuel surcharge?

These were some of the questions Royal Caribbean cruise fans asked President and CEO Michael Bayley during a Q&A session this week.

Royal Caribbean hosts a President's Cruise each year, and there's always an opportunity for the top executive from Royal Caribbean International to take questions from its loyal cruisers.

There's usually an assortment of questions, gripes, suggestions, and compliments included each time, and a few of the questions were intriguing to a wide audience.

In addition to talking about when pre-cruise testing and vaccine requirements might come to an end, Mr. Bayley touched on a few other hot button topics.

Here's what Mr. Bayley had to say when asked some of the top questions.

Will Royal Caribbean ever ban smoking in the casinos?

Royal Caribbean temporarily banned smoking in its casinos earlier this year during the Omicron variant in order to implement a stricter face mask rule, but that rule was rolled back a few months later.

When asked about revising the smoking policy indoors, Mr. Bayley admitted, "smoking in the casinos is a bit of a conundrum."

"The dilemma is that there are many people who do want to smoke in the casino. I know that's not a popular response, but it's it's the truth."

"I'm not judging anyone or anything, but there's a large group of people who do want to smoke in the casino."

He explained, "Every, I would say every couple of years, we do test this and we take one or two or three ships we ban smoking in the casino. And the result is less people go in the casino and that that's the reality of it."

While a full smoking ban in the casino doesn't seem likely, Mr. Bayley said they are looking at ways to create more non-smoking areas, "we're looking at trying to create more smoke free spaces in the casino, which I think will be helpful."

Will Royal Caribbean add fuel surcharges?

While the price of oil is high, Royal Caribbean still has no plans to add a fuel surcharge to cruise guests.

"The fuel fuel bill for Royal Caribbean is, as you can imagine, it's massive and it's gone up by I don't know what the percentages, but it's a huge chunk. It's hundreds of millions of dollars."

"But at the moment, we're not planning on putting a fuel surcharge on."

The cost of West Texas Intermediate oil, a common benchmark, spiked above $120 a barrel at times this year, but has since dropped back to around $110 a barrel. That’s up from around $76 a barrel at the start of the year.

In 2008, the price of West Texas Intermediate peaked at around $146 a barrel. That’s around $192 in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation.

Mr. Bayley did admit, the issue is still up in the air, "We try to understand what the implications are of a fuel surcharge."

"I'd say we don't know. We've all seen the uncertainty of all of these dynamics. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or next week or the week after."

He mentioned the fact Royal Caribbean hedges its fuel quite a bit every year, with 50% of its fuel hedged for this year and a smaller percentage for next year.

When will Royal Caribbean share more information about Icon of the Seas

It seems like everyone can't believe Royal Caribbean hasn't shared more details yet about its next new cruise ship, but everything is still under wraps for a little while longer.

Icon of the Seas is set to debut in late 2023, and Mr. Bayley was asked when they will share more information about the ship, "We are launching Icon of the Seas starting this September."

"By launching, I mean, we are we are starting to communicate. We have a whole planning program of communication, social media, marketing, TV, radio, you name it."

He echoed previous comments about how impressive this new class of ship will be, "It is the next generation of Royal Caribbean ship and we're super proud of the work we've been working on for five years."

"It follows a normal formula of tradition, evolution, revolution."

"So there's much of Icon of the Seas is everything we all love about Royal Caribbean, much of Icon of the Seas is the next generation of thinking for many of the things that we really love about Royal Caribbean."

"And there's a chunk of stuff that we've never done before which is really going to be super cool."

The Pearl

Michael Bayley was pretty good at keeping all the Icon of the Seas details under wraps, until he accidently let slip the name of that mystery sphere we've seen photos of for months.

A guest wanted to know what the "big white ball" was, and Mr. Bayley immediately responded, "the Pearl?"

When someone pointed out he said it, he responded, "I know, but I did it by accident.

Royal Caribbean filed for a trademark for the phrase, "The Pearl" earlier this month.

Will double points promotion return?

One guest wanted to know if Royal Caribbean would ever bring back its double points promotion, which allows guests to get double the usual points per night of the cruise in the Crown and Anchor Society customer loyalty program.

"I'm so tempted to say yes. But I got to tell you our Pinnacle members are not such advocates for the idea."

He then joked, "I know it's very popular and you've got to cling onto it as a memory."

"Unreasonable and unfair" treatment during pandemic

Twice during the session, Mr. Bayley was asked about what it was like during the cruise industry shutdown as a result of Covid.

"I've got to be honest with media, particularly in the beginning of the pandemic... we felt like we couldn't get a break."

"It's like we were responsible for COVID."

"Relentlessly reporting was always, always negative about about the industry and Royal Caribbean. I don't think we ever saw a positive article."

"Even on the crewing situation, where we were working night and day to get our crew home, we just received criticism for the current situation."

He went on to say, "At the beginning of the pandemic...the cruise industry was generally regarded as the bad actor, which I have to tell you was totally unreasonable and unfair."

In-between all the cruise news of this week, there's other tidbits of changes and news to share beyond the major headlines.

There's plenty of other changes and developments you should be aware of from this past week, so here's a look at a few of them that you should know about.

If you ever have a news tip, feel free to email it to [email protected] for possible inclusion in a future update!

Michael Bayley comments on CDC removing travel warning

The big cruise news this week was when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took down its warning against going on a cruise ship due to Covid-19.

In a nutshell, the CDC eliminated its travel warning of contracting Covid-19 on a cruise ship. The warning had been in place for two years.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley shared his thoughts on the change during a panel at the Cruise360 conference this week.

Cruise360 is an annual travel agent conference, and Mr. Bayley was speaking on a panel when the topic came up.

As you might imagine, Mr. Bayley was quite happy with the warning being removed, "This is great news. The fact that they removed the warning is a very positive step for our industry."

"We’ve been on a very long journey with the CDC."

"Now when a consumer wants to find out about COVID-19 on cruise ships, they can go to the CDC’s websites and get the facts without being scared away by a warning."

Every ship is now in the app

Royal Caribbean added Radiance of the Seas to Royal Caribbean's app, which means now every ship in the fleet has app support.

Ever since Royal Caribbean's app debuted, the company has systematically been adding app support to each ship.  Since 2021, more ships have gotten app support correlating to restart plans.

Getting emuster and check-in support necessitated having the app ready for when a ship would start sailing again.

Read more: Royal Caribbean app walkthrough and tips

ArriveCAN ready for cruise ship passengers

When Royal Caribbean announced its Alaska cruise health protocols, it noted passengers will need to use the ArriveCAN app for all sailings from Seattle, Seward and Vancouver.

All travelers to Canada, or their legal guardians, must download the ArriveCAN app or complete the mandatory travel information via the ArriveCAN website prior to your entry into Canada.

In the 2.27.2 update to ArriveCAN, the app now supports "marine travelers".

According to the app update, cruisers can enter their date and time of embarkation from their country of origin no earlier than 72 hours prior to departure.  In addition, cruisers can make ArriveCAN submissions 30 days prior to arrival.

The ArriveCAN app can be downloaded on the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Royal Caribbean International's top executive took to Facebook on Thursday to address the recent news of Covid cases on his cruise ships.

In the wake of two Royal Caribbean cruise ships making headline news for having around 50 positive Covid cases on each ship, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO posted on his Facebook page a new update about where things stand, and why cruise ships are out performing everywhere else in terms of the positivity rate.

Mr. Bayley is no stranger to posting on social media to talk about the progress being made by Royal Caribbean.

Here is a breakdown of what Mr. Bayley said from his Facebook post.

Positivity rate on cruise ships

Mr. Bayley touted the fact cruise ships are doing better than the average across the United States for Covid-19 positive cases.

"We now have a “positivity” rate way below the national rate and way below our big home port states such as Florida, California, Texas etc, and way below Broward and Miami Dade in Florida the two counties that are home to of our biggest home ports of Miami and Port Everglades."

Mr. Bayley then shared his opinion on the omicron variant, noting that he is not a public health official.

"We are seeing increases in positivity rates with some ships currently close to 1 percent (please note Florida positivity rate is 5 percent, which is pretty good relative to others).

"Recently Symphony of the Seas was in the media spotlight with 48 positive cases (mainly guests) which was less than 1 percent of the onboard population.

"Also Odyssey of the Seas has 50 positive cases mainly crew with a onboard population of over 5,000 plus, so approx 1 percent positivity rate."

He then went on to talk about the reality of the cases onboard the ships as being quite mild.

"98 percent plus of positive cases are with the fully vaccinated and 99 per cent plus are asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms often surprised they are positive at all.    

"It really does seem as though the virus (if vaccinated) has morphed to something more like a mild cold !   (Second notice this is not in anyway a statement based on science but simply what we are seeing and hearing from our operations in this environment). "

He went on to say that he hopes Omicron variant is the start of a milder form of Covid-19, "my hope is this really is the beginning of the end of this virus and what we are seeing is its morphing to fast spread and less harmful like the common cold !  (If vaccinated)."

Good news

He started off by highlighting the tremendous progress Royal Caribbean has had with getting the restart process moving, "We now have 21 ships back in operation, 40,000 crew back to work all fully vaccinated and all now receiving their booster shots and over 50,000 to 60,000 guests a week sailing with us all fully vaccinated (over 12) and increasingly the 5 to 12 year olds are getting vaccinated."

Mr. Bayley also shared how well-received cruises have been by the public.

"Guest satisfaction is sky high ! Lots of very happy guests enjoying wonderful cruise vacations in a safe (relative to any other options) and fun way."

"The crew (God bless them all) have been through all kinds of obstacles and difficulties and are now back doing what they love to do do and are now able to care for and support their families back home."

Vaccinations on cruise ships

Mr. Bayley said on a typical sailing, there are between 95% - 98% fully vaccinated guests onboard, with everyone getting a pre-cruise test for Covid-19.

In addition, crew members are tested every week, with front of house staff (crew members who deal directly with passengers) now being tested every three days, and everyone wearing masks the vast majority of the time, along with social distancing, sanitizing, etc.

Ship capacity

Royal Caribbean has slowly been increasing ship capacity since the summer, and Royal Caribbean is now approaching 70 to 80% in December 2021.

"We have also been managing capacity from our start up in July with 20 to 30 per cent average load factors increasing approx 10 per cent a month to approx 70 to 80 per cent in December."

"Our normal year full year load factor is approx 110 per cent. (3rd and 4th berth occupancy which is normally kids)."

Read Bayley's entire message

A successful business leader heading up Royal Caribbean International, Michael Bayley manages a cruise line with over 78,000 employees, and a total of 24 ships visiting 270 locations. No doubt a considerable task.  

Bayley has seen a lot during his 40-year career with the company and he clearly loves his job. He shares many stories on social media profiling employees, featuring great passenger stories, engaging with cruisers, and breaking the latest news.

Digging a little deeper, we found some unexpected things you might not know about the man at the helm of Royal Caribbean.  

He comes from Wales

Bayley is a native of Cardiff, Wales. A small country bordering England, it has a population of just over three million people. It is characterized by its ancient roots, rugged coastlines, and strong Celtic culture. A sharp contrast to his current home in sunny Miami, Florida.

Upon finishing school, Bayley ventured to England for university, graduating from the University of Bournemouth with a degree in business.

After a friend told him about a cruise line hiring in the United States, he took his first ever flight and trip to the United States for the job.  His career in the cruise industry has taken him all over the world including some of his favorite places such as Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Rome, New York City, and Morocco. Quite a journey

He started as an Assistant Purser

Photo by Michael Bayley

Bayley’s first position at Royal Caribbean was assistant purser on the Nordic Prince.

As he described it, he was at the front desk dealing with lots of people.  He talks fondly of that time on the ship, interacting with crew and passengers. He especially loved the sirloin steak and french fries served for dinner on Saturday nights, exclaiming that it was one of his all time favorite cruise meals.

Setting sail in 1971, The Nordic Prince was the second ship built for Royal Caribbean, with a passenger capacity of 741, just over 550 feet in length, and sailed mostly in the Caribbean.

For those fans of the 80s classic cruise show “The Love Boat” they will remember that the loveable character Gopher was also a purser. His career did not seem to keep pace with that of Bayley’s though.

He’s a foodie

One of the great things about traveling on a Royal Caribbean ship, especially with the Oasis class, is the abundance of food options. All a good thing, as it is evident that Bayley is a foodie.

When recently asked about his favorite restaurants in the world, he listed a diverse selection of places. His top three include The Tree restaurant in Sao Paulo (which is actually covered by a century old tree), he then followed up with a giant leap across the world to the Cantonese restaurant in the Intercontinental in Hong Kong, and finished with My Mommy’s Kitchen In Buenos Aires, Argentina. He gets around.

He can also be seen trying his hand as a Teppanyaki chef, or frequently posting polls about great good options to choose from at the Portside BBQ or lamb and seafood options at Jamie’s Italian.

His son claims his enchiladas are the best things he cooks.

Dad jokes are his thing

Bayley loves to tell Dad jokes, often posting videos of his informal comedy routines. Captain Shawn seems to be a popular co-star in his video posts, and as a test audience, he doesn’t always seem to find the jokes that humorous.

His dog Thunder appears equally ambivalent about this joke telling skills seemingly preferring to nap.

A sampling of some of the highlights:

How does the penguin build his house? … he igloos it together.

Why did the coach go to the bank? … to get his quarter back.

He used to be President of CEO of Celebrity Cruises

Prior to his current position, Bayley was the head of Celebrity Cruises, moving there after being promoted from his position of Executive Vice President for International Operations at Royal Caribbean.

At Celebrity he was tasked with improving profitability with a focus on the premium segment. In his short time at Celebrity, he produced strong results and quickly switched back to Royal Caribbean to his current role of President and CEO.

Celebrity is a sister company to Royal Caribbean International, both owned by the broader parent company of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity targets a different segment, with a smaller fleet, and is known for its sophisticated ambiance, including food and service.

He once drove a lifeboat into a ship

In another memorable video titled “A special gift from Captain Shawn”. Bayley is presented with the original ship log from the Empress of the Seas. It was found while cleaning things up prior to the ship’s sale in 2020.

When handed the log, Bayley began to reminisce about his days aboard the ship. One particular event that stands out was a fun night out in Freeport after a long 10 day cruise. Unexpectedly they had to do a drill, and while acting as a Lifeboat Commander he drove the lifeboat right into the ship.  

As he recalls, the captain was none too pleased, surely an experience Bayley will never forget.

Favorite job

Bayley has had a number of jobs during his 40 years with the Royal Caribbean Group including work as a printer, payroll department, and hotel manager to more senior positions.  Beyond his current position, he says that the role of Chief Purser on the Sovereign of the Seas was one he truly loved. The days of fun, travel, and camaraderie made it so special.

The Sovereign of the Seas started sailing in 1988 from the port of Miami. With a passenger capacity of 2278, it was dubbed the world’s first mega-ship, although is now considered small in comparison to more modern ships.

Under Bayley's leadership, Royal Caribbean will launch the Wonder of the Seas with a capacity nearing 7000 in early 2022.

He has his own TikTok channel

Mr. Bayley is not one to shy away from almost anything, including TikTok.

His username is captaincruiseguy, and it's where he shares all kinds of videos from onboard the ships, at his home, and from many other places in his travels.

CEO's are not often known for sharing their fun side, but Mr. Baley does not hold back to share his personal side with fellow cruise fans.

While onboard Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley answered questions about a variety of topics related to cruising right now.

Mr. Bayley and Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, hosted a question and answer session with travel agents that covered many aspects of what Royal Caribbean is doing right now.

Questions touched on health protocols, the app, Perfect Day at Cococay, and more.

Here are some of the more interesting responses to the hot topics the executives touch upon.

Will antibody tests be accepted?

One question raised was if or when someone with antibodies from a previous Covid-19 infection would be acceptable to sail in lieu of a vaccine.

Mr. Bayley said he gets this question a lot, "I think I think we're going to get there. We're not there at the moment."

Besides discussions with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) about the issue, Mr. Bayley said another issue are the various countries who each have their own requirements, "Typically the standards are in each of the countries, often that defines the whole itinerary."

"I can't tell you how many meetings we've had with health authorities literally around the world and particularly obviously with the CDC."

"I do believe we'll get to a good place with antibodies, but it's probably a few more months away."

Chat feature in the app

Another question was about the chat feature in the Royal Caribbean app, and why it costs extra instead of being free.

Mr. Bayley admitted they wrestled with charging or not for the chat feature, "I remember that we had a lot of arguments internally within the company about a dollar ninety nine."

"I'm tempted to say we'll drop it, but nobody seems to be reacting against it. So we'll we'll drop it. Yeah. I think that will be good."

Will the Double Point promo come back?

Ever since the double points in Crown and Anchor Society promo ended earlier this fall, many cruise fans wanted to know if it will ever come back.

Mr. Bayley said he thinks the promo will come back, but they will use it "strategically."

"You'll see more of that coming, but it's not going to be a blanket open book."

Latest on Hideaway Beach

Mr. Bayley took some time to talk about the new port projects Royal Caribbean has lined up, including the next expansion for Perfect Day at CocoCay.

A new adults-only beach area is coming to CocoCay, that will open in late 2022.

"We are opening Hideaway Beach in, I'm hoping it's going to be at some point in '22."

"Hideaway Beach is going to be a adult only zone. It's going to have a beautiful natural lagoon area and a phenomenal pool and of course, stunning new cabanas and overwater cabanas and great dining and entertainment.

Why did Royal Caribbean decide to do adults-only? Evidently there was a lot of demand, "the feedback we've got is that people love Perfect Day, but there's a segment of our customers who want to have more quiet and not have kids all over the place."

Royal Beach Club & other projects

Mr. Bayley also gave an update on the new Royal Beach Club in Nassau, among other port projects.

"We're very close to finalizing the Royal Beach Club in Nassau, Bahamas, that is going to be on Paradise Island."

"Royal Beach Club is going to be an absolutely stunning beach club vibe, looking out to the beautiful ocean with a stunning beach. We're building a really world class, incredible kind of infinity pool."

"It's going to be very much infused in the Bahamian culture with lots of Junkanoo and great music."

Mr. Bayley wasn't sure exactly when it might open, saying it will probably open in 2023.

Moving on, he touched on other projects.

"We had other projects that we were working on before the pandemic. We were envisioning a new concept for Labadee. We were working on the project plan for Vanuatu off the coast of Australia."

"The Perfect Day in Vanuatu is absolutely stunning. I mean, it is game changing."

"New classes of ships that are coming and our vision for destinations, we think that we're going to really move forward and create a whole new blue open space for Royal Caribbean as a vacation company and very excited about that."

Icon of the Seas

Mr. Bayley also talked briefly about Icon of the Seas.

"We feel that Oasis Class was a game changer, particularly for the family market. But when Icon comes. We think it's just going to take it to a whole new level."

Masks

When might masks go away? No one knows quite yet, but Mr. Bayley is optimistic for a change in policy as we move in to 2022.

"I think it's pretty it's pretty certain that the mask policy is going to change for the whole industry, for everybody as we move into the first quarter... as long as we don't see any more variants appearing on the scene."

Mr. Bayley shared the results of a survey the cruise line conducted about masks, "Sixty five percent of all of our customers feel comfortable with some kind of mask guidance. A lot of people do feel comfortable with it as being something optional."

"We're very thoughtful about it and have been because of our family market. :So we're very sensitive to making sure we're not alienating a large group of customers."

"I 'm never arrogant enough to think that we solved it all, but our protocols are really working. Sometimes we can be accused of being a little overcautious, but it's just it's just all working out."

"I think for the industry and for our business, week by week, month by month, these things are going to start slipping away and we're going to get back to quite a quite a normal environment.

Capacity numbers

One topic a lot of cruisers want to know his how full their ships will be in the near future.

Mr. Bayley shared some rough estimates for ships sailing over the next few months.

" In October, I think the Royal Caribbean International Brand fleet sailed at 50 percent load factor."

"In November it'll be 60 percent. In December, it'll be 65. As we move into January, we'll continue to increase it."

"We're monitoring and watching everything is occurring around us, and we're making sure that every time we increase our capacity, we believe it's very safe to do so. Our intention as we move into the spring is to get back to business as normal."

Let the rampant speculation begin.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley posted a short and cryptic teaser on his Facebook page about a big announcement coming soon.

Mr. Bayley wrote three sentences in his teaser, "Get ready for the news of a lifetime. A big announcement is on the horizon.  Stay tuned!"

Less than an hour after posting it, he edited the post to change some of the wording.

"Get ready for some big news. We’ve got an announcement on the horizon. Stay tuned!"

What could it be? We will have to wait and see.

Cruise fans were quick to jump in with their guesses, ranging from new ship announcements, to Covid-19 protocol changes, President's Cruise announcement, and pretty much everything inbetween.

Here are some of the interesting ideas people shared in the comments of his Facebook post.

• Icon of the Seas information
• Vaccine mandate change
• Free cruise giveaways
• Wonder of the Seas news
• $18 per day Deluxe Drink Package

Since there is not any kind of hint in direction of what to expect, numerous possibilities loom. Not to mention the fact there is no telling if this big news will come out tomorrow, this week, or even this year.

Mr. Bayley is no stranger to posting on Facebook, having often shared his thoughts about what is happening in the cruise industry, as well as sharing behind-the-scenes peeks of what is forthcoming.

Royal Caribbean has a number of projects planned, as well as speculated upon, but it is difficult to know what sort of announcement to expect.

Besides the upcoming Icon Class cruise ships to be built over the next few years, Royal Caribbean also has port projects in Vanuatu, Antigua, and Labadee that have all been placed on hold.

Meanwhile, progress quietly is made on the Royal Beach Club in Paradise Island, and a new port project in Freeport, Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean Group Chief Product Innovation Officer, Jay Schneider, recently confirmed ship upgrades under the Royal Amplified program will pick back up in the future.

"We're going to pick up Amplification again. We're going to keep making sure that the Amplification we have is working."

Moreover, new ship construction is not stopping either, "Our new build portfolio isn't isn't stopping. We're going to continue to build amazing ships."

"You're going to see new concepts come out on future ships and you're going to see us experiment with new fun ways to, again, get people to have an amazing vacation."

When Mr. Bayley and/or Royal Caribbean makes the announcement, I will share it immediately on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.

Share your best guesses of what Mr. Bayley is hinting at in the comments below!