Trade Investment Remains Steady, L.A. Gets Second Ship & More Tidbits from Utopia of the Seas’ Inaugural

Royal Caribbean remains steadfastly committed to investing in its trade partnership with travel advisors, Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International told media during an early morning press conference onboard Utopia of the Seas. The ship is the sixth Oasis-class ship for the brand and is the second largest ship in the world.

“We’re always willing to invest,” Bayley said, responding to a question about worries that the massive debt cruise lines are shouldering might limit Royal Caribbean’s ability to stay invested in the trade.

Bayley referred back to the pandemic and the interest-free loans Royal Caribbean offered travel advisors, despite the fact it was borrowing heavily to pay the some $3.5 billion needed to maintain the fleet.

“During that period we loaned out $75 million, interest free. Believe it or not, they’ve all been paid back. That shows the commitment that we’ve always had to the trade. Maybe it’s true of other cruise companies but it’s not true of Royal Caribbean. We’ve been steady all the way along with our commitment to the trade and we’ve never walked away from that.”

While much of what Bayley had to say during the press conference was brand messaging, he did reveal a few other tidbits of interest to the travel trade.

All-in pricing hasn’t slowed demand

Of particular note, he said the introduction of all-in pricing, which some advisors feared would create a sticker-shock impact on demand, hasn’t had any impact at all.

“Demand continues the way it was,” he said, adding that he believes that with all suppliers pricing this way, it’s much simpler for people to understand.

New class of ship in the works

Also of interest was the revelation that Royal Caribbean is working on a new class of ship, called the Discovery Class, which Bayley called exciting, but wouldn’t say any more about.

“We’re currently starting to concept a new class of ship called Discovery class,” Bayley told both the media as well as a theater packed full of travel advisors at a “Common Grounds” Q&A that also included Vicki Freed, senior vice president, sales, trade support, and service.

Speaking of the development of the new ship, he was particularly interested in a question from a travel advisor about adding accessibility routes on future ships to make it easier for people in wheelchairs and scooters to get around.

He also revealed that Royal Caribbean is already “rethinking and thinking about Icon Class into the future,” though, again, he didn’t reveal any details.

Ovation to Los Angeles

While most questions raised during an advisor Q&A don’t lead to immediate results, one question did.

In response to audience demand, Bayley and Freed announced that Royal Caribbean will send Ovation of the Seas to Los Angeles, becoming the second Royal Caribbean ship to sail from the port.

Starting next spring, May 28, 2025, the ship will sail a season of three-, five-, and six-night West Coast and Mexican Riviera itineraries.

“The more you sell, the bigger the ships get out of Los Angeles,” Freed said.

“If you do well, we’ll send you an Icon,” Bayley added.

On-ramp to new-to-cruise

Much of the press conference was devoted to what makes Utopia of the Seas special. Though not much differentiates Utopia from the rest of the Oasis-class ships (there’s a new interactive restaurant; Giovanni’s has moved from Central Park; etc.), the ship’s itineraries is the true differentiator.

“Utopia is a giant onramp for new to cruise,” he said, referring to the ship’s short three- and four-day sailings. “The percentage of new to cruise that will sail on Utopia of the Seas is fantastic. It’s a short product, you don’t have to commit so much time and money. It’s no big deal to hop onto Utopia on a Friday and be in the office Monday morning.”

On top of that, Utopia’s homeport of Port Canaveral is also part of what makes it so appealing.

“It’s easy to access… there’s a huge volume of tourists coming into the area. It’s a very big drive-up market, probably one of the biggest in the United States.”

He added that Royal Caribbean specifically chose to put Utopia into the Orlando-area market because “we really expect to see a certain amount of demand coming from tourists who are going in for some kind of combo, whether they’re doing Disney or Universal, and they can package themselves a vacation that includes a three-night or four-might to Perfect Day.”

Caribbean remains core

Keeping Utopia deployed only in the Caribbean is part of Royal Caribbean’s strategy to keep the Caribbean front and central for its brand.

“The Caribbean is the whole destination of Royal Caribbean. Sixty percent of our ships all year-round are operating in the Caribbean. Next year we’ll carry around 7 million guests and probably 5 million will be in the Caribbean.”

Family friendly or party ship?

When talking about Utopia of the Seas, both to press and travel advisors, Bayley sometimes seemed to be mixing up the messaging between Utopia and Icon.

One minute, he talked about the family friendliness of a short week-end cruise, and the next he spoke about the ship’s party vibe.

“Utopia will have a lot of focus on party,” he said. “We want [the] younger demographic and this is a great runway, this product based in Port Canaveral, going to Perfect Day and then the Beach Club in Nassau? You’re talking extreme party.”

Speaking of the Royal Beach Club he said they’re hoping to have the largest swim-up bar in the world.

Extreme parties and large swim-up bars are not necessarily what one might think of as family friendly. Not to mention, the adults onboard the party-heavy Utopia of the Seas might not appreciate lots of kids onboard. Utopia does not have a Surfside neighborhood to move kids into.

Even Icon of the Seas, the ship Royal Caribbean is marketing as the best family ship in the world, is having problems with kids.

One advisor told Bayley and Freed that on a recent Icon sailing, there were kids splashing around the swim-up bar and crawling through dancers’ legs at Bolero’s at midnight. The problem with unruly kids has become so problematic, she has loyal to Royal passengers jumping ship to other cruise lines.

Bayley acknowledged he’s aware of the problem.

“I’ve been receiving more written complaints about the kids,” he said. “We’re a family brand, we want the kids but we do need to make sure that we respect the adults.”

The audience of travel advisors replied with loud applause to suggestions from Bayley and Freed that a bar curfew could be a good idea.

“What we can do a better job of in the lounges, like Bolero’s, just not allow children after 9 o’clock,” Freed said.

“I promise you, we’ll look at that and we’ll make some improvements.”

“Some things can just be plain stupid”

As with any conversation with Bayley, you never know what he may say and he didn’t disappoint when talking about the new tiki bar concept onboard Utopia of the Seas, the Pesky Parrot, which he called a “natural progression” from the presence of a mascot dog onboard Icon of the Seas.

“The Pesky Parrot really is this parrot that’s getting on in life, likes a few drinks, and as the day progresses, the parrot becomes a little belligerent, rude. Like when you have a family celebration and one of your relatives is really irritating because they’re old and they’re drunk,” he said. “You’re going on vacation, it doesn’t need to be serious. Some things can just be plain stupid.”

The ship will be receiving an animatronic parrot to test out.

“If we can get it right and Brian [the name Bayley gave the parrot on the spot] is exactly how we dream Brian to be, a belligerent old drunk guy… people may love Brian and if not, I guess there will be parrot curry.”