Royal Caribbean held a call with investors to go over their record 2018 financial results and provide guidance for the coming year.  Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd earnings beat Wall Street expectations, benefiting from higher demand for its Caribbean cruises and passengers spending more money on activities while on board.

Between the fiscal anecdotes and figures shared, cruise fans could glean a few tidbits of interesting information.

Two powerful booking trends

At the beginning of the call, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain started off that two powerful trends are dominating bookings for Royal Caribbean: experiences over material possessions and favorable demographic shifts.

Mr. Fain spoke about what he is seeing in the market, "As we have been very vocal about two important and positive consumer trends. First, the trend in favor of experiences over material possessions, and second, the favorable demographic shifts.

We've been talking for a long time about how people have shifted their focus from buying TVs, cars, etc to buying memories or experiences. And that shift has become so powerful that I think it's now obvious to everybody.

At the same time, the demographic makeup of our population keeps shifting in our direction. 

These two trends have become increasingly powerful, and our company and our brands are well-positioned to benefit from these trends."

The first two weeks of Wave season have been fantastic

For those unaware, Wave season is the sales period that has historically taken place between January and March and stands out because a large percentage of cruisers book their sailings in the early months of the year. This year, Royal Caribbean has seen a record Wave season take place.

Richard Fain mentioned it at the top of the call, "Happily, the record-breaking start to Wave validates our confidence. And with Wave off to a wonderful start, our already good booked position continues to strengthen.  Bookings have been at higher levels than last year, and in fact we received more bookings during the first week of Wave than we have in any other week in our history...except for the second week in Wave, which was even better."

Royal Caribbean Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty also touched on the great start to the year, "Over the past three months, bookings have been higher than the same time last year.... In fact, two out of the past three weeks have been record-booking weeks for the company."

Perfect Day at CocoCay facts

With the launch of Perfect Day at CocoCay coming up in just a few months, Royal Caribbean sounded quite bullish on the impact it is already having and will have on the cruise line's bottom line.

Richard Fain commented on the impact Perfect Day at CocoCay will have on the cruise industry, "The island development will really shake-up the short-term cruise market, and I am confident that our guests will love it."

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley also had some interesting facts to share about Perfect Day, "When you look at Royal Caribbean International, we have I think 13 ships operating in the Caribbean during the year, and then when you look at the deployment of those ships to Perfect Day in 2019, I believe ten out of the thirteen ships are calling to Perfect Day.  Our projections are that by 2020, we will be taking just shy of two million guests a year to Perfect Day.

And then of course the other element is the sales associated with the experience of Perfect Day, and we've seen our sales of activities and experiences really take off on our pre-cruise sales for the experience, so we're up by a factor of close to nine, I think, for our Perfect Day sales."

Smart phone app investment return

Naturally investors want to hear that a company's investment in a piece of technology or a new initiative is driving home a return and Royal Caribbean is happy to report that despite its major tech initiative, code named Project Excalibur, has not fully launched yet, already the cruise line is reaping some benefits.

Mr. Liberty explained that essentially, the cruise line is seeing guest satisfaction rising quickly because the app and other tech advances remove friction from the guest experience.  That in turn provides higher yields for Royal Caribbean.  In the future that will make it easier for the consumer to buy things from the cruise line.

"There is a strong relationship to where guest satisfaction scores go up, and people pay more both for their ticket as well as onboard. Certainly ships that we have put Excalibur on we are seeing those benefits."

Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 287 is available for downloading where our friends Alanna and Rafael review their recent sailing on Independence of the Seas.

Rafael and Alanna join Matt to discuss their first sailing on Independence of the Seas on this week's episode.  They share what they did on the ship, their shore excursion plans and how their first big Royal Caribbean cruise went.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 287. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean released its deployment schedule for the remaining 2020-2021 itineraries, which indicates when these sailings will go on sale.

While Royal Caribbean released a number of sailings for 2020 and 2021 in the Fall of 2018, the remaining 2020-2021 sailings will be released as follows:

• Week of March 11, 2019: Caribbean (Phase II)
• Week of March 18, 2019: Australia & Transpacific
• Week of March 25, 2019: Dubai
• Week of April 29, 2019: China
• Week of May 20, 2019: Asia & Singapore
• Cuba: Coming soon

All itineraries and openings are subject to change without notice. 

We have a brand new RoyalCaribbeanBlog video to share today, which features seven things that surprise people about a Royal Caribbean cruise.

A little planning can go a long way… and now more than ever that is true when it comes to planning a trip on Royal Caribbean! That is why we are sharing seven things that some guests find surprising about going on Royal Caribbean so you can know those things ahead of time to make the absolute most of your vacation!

And if you love this video, we have lots of other great cruise videos to watch on our Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel!

By the way, have you subscribed yet? Be sure to subscribe to our channel and never miss a single episode!

So check out the video and then let us know: What did you find most surprising the first time you cruised on Royal Caribbean?

Royal Caribbean has updated the Diamond member happy hour drink menu on Independence of the Seas, which features a new look and a few additions.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Twangster shared a photo of the new menu while onboard Independence of the Seas.

Diamond drink menu from Independence of the Seas January 2019

Diamond drink menu from Jewel of the Seas January 2019. Photo by Steve Pellegrino

Diamond drink menu from Serenade of the Seas February 2018

Glenfiddich scotch has been added to the menu, along with Captain Morgan rum.

Each evening, Royal Caribbean offers complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in its Diamond lounges for Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members. In addition, Diamond members and above receive three complimentary drink vouchers to use at bars and lounges around the ship during the same time.

Forbes announced today that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has been named to the America's Best Employers for Diversity 2019.

Forbes and research firm Statista surveyed 50,000 American employees in companies that have at least 1,000 employees.  Survey questions focused on diversity with respect to gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and ability. Other components of the ranking included gender diversity among top executives and the board of directors, and the company's proactive communication about diversity.

"I am extremely pleased that Forbes has recognized Royal Caribbean as one of America's Best Employers for Diversity," said Laura Miller, SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer for  Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "This recognition would not be possible without our employees. As one of the world's largest cruise companies, we are committed to our over 75,000 talented and devoted employees representing nearly 200 countries.  We will continue to focus and demonstrate the importance of diversity and inclusion both on shore and at sea."

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority owns and operates the deep water, marina and upland holdings throughout Victoria's harbor and is working on expanding the docking infrastructure of Greater Victoria Harbor to allow cruise ships larger than a Quantum Class ship.

The project is planned for completion by May 2019, which is when Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas is expected to visit Victoria regularly.

This $6.8 million expansion project involves extending the existing berth and moor vessels by more than 55 meters, then adding a breasting "dolphin" and an additional structure that restricts the longitudinal movement of the ship when it’s moored near the pier. 

When complete, the harbor will be able to handle cruise ships of up to 200,000 gross tons.    

The construction project was awarded to Ruskin Construction Ltd. through a competitive bid process. Work began in October 2018 with the installation of falsework to temporarily support pouring of the concrete bollard platforms to which the ships will be moored. 

Ovation of the Seas will visit Victoria regularly beginning in May. The ship measure 348 meters in length, features 18 decks and can accommodate as many as 4,900 passengers — about 1,000 more passengers than the Royal Caribbean vessel that moored at the harbor previously.    

Hope you had a great week (maybe one week closer to your next Royal Caribbean cruise?) and you had a chance to keep up with what's new with Royal Caribbean this week. But if not, here's a roundup of this week's news.

Royal Caribbean fans were surprised to hear the Crown and Anchor Society Member Director will be leaving her role.

Millie Quiles sent an email to Crown and Anchor members that she will be stepping down from the role at the end of January.

Quiles spent almost ten years being the face of Crown and Anchor Society and working with members on a daily basis.  We will miss her contributions to the program and Royal Caribbean!

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean's CEO talked about a new app update and tech coming to Icon Class.
• Royal Caribbean scheduled its fourth quarter earnings call with investors.
• Royal Caribbean announced its 2018 travel partners of the year.
• We shared a new video with the top cruise terms you should know before cruising.
• Royal Caribbean announced a new head of Sales for Singapore.
• Michael started off a new live blog from Brilliance of the Seas.
• Check out our overview of refundable vs non-refundable cruise fares.
• Video: What's coming to Royal Caribbean in 2019.
• The new smartphone app is now available on Vision of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 286th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and we take an in-depth look at cruising from Australia.

Friend of the show Pippa joins Matt to talk about all aspects of a cruise from Australia and what someone looking to cruise down under can expect.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Hive wrote ten reasons you need to take a cruise this year.

Eat Sleep Cruise listed the top cruise ships of 2019.

Travel and Whims shared 24 things you'll want to know before cruising Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced Josh Wen as the new head of Singapore trade sales, in addition to his title of Head of Sales of Asia Pacific.

Royal Caribbean made the announcement at the company Chinese New Year appreciation dinner for trade partners in Singapore at Grand Hyatt on the evening of Friday, January 25.

Wen, who has been with Royal Caribbean for three and a half years, will now handle a total of 15 markets in the region for trade sales, namely Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam.  He was previously with the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry in trade strategy and management.  Wen is taking over the Singapore role from Mona Foo, Head of Business Development, who will now focus on corporate sales and operations in Asia.

Stephen also thanked the trade partners for their strong support in the past year that has contributed to the global success of the Royal Caribbean International brand. “Your efforts have put us in a strong position to launch our 50th anniversary this year.  Royal Caribbean is in an exciting time of transformation with the arrival of two Quantum Class ships here including the new Spectrum of the Seas, new itineraries and drydock projects coming up.  So the newly expanded team will work even more closely with all of you for a successful year ahead.”

In her announcement to over 200 invitees at the event, Angie Stephen, Managing Director, Asia Pacific said, “Trade and distribution will now be under one team with a unified focus. It’s a great opportunity for synergy, strategy and collaboration in driving even better results across the region.  With Josh’s expertise in handling multiple markets in Asia, I’m confident that he and his team will be a great asset and support for our partners in building up their business for the next decade.” 

Welcome to our weekly showcase of great Royal Caribbean photos that our readers have shared with us.  Let's dive into this week's batch of photos!

Let's kick start this week's edition with a photo by Joseph Ingrassia of sunset taken from running track on Oasis of the Seas.

Next up is a photo of Grandeur of the Seas arriving in Nassau by Dennis Chimelis.

Phyllis Adelsberg sent us this photo of Hubbard Glacier, as seen from Radiance of the Seas.

We head over to Labadee for this photo by Nicole Ballinger.

Here is a look at Anthem of the Seas in Nassau. Photo by Anoop.

Tammy Murphy shared this photo of her family having a great time on their Royal Caribbean cruise.

The pride of New Jersey, John Bamber, took this photo from his balcony stateroom while on Anthem of the Seas.

Thank you to everyone for their photos this week! You can use this form to share your favorite Royal Caribbean photos with all of us.