Adult centered cruising with

[coordinator23]

i just read an interesting article about adult, 18+, cruises. It stated P &O had converted part of its fleet to adult only. It went on to say other cruise lines, like Viking, are exclusively for adults.

With that in mind, wouldn’t it make good business sense for Royal to take advantage of this current market trend (with some cruisers preferring adult only cruises)? They could save millions of dollars not retrofitting smaller ships with all the newer “bells and whistles” and attract the crowd that prefers to cruise sans kids.

The mega ships would continue to attract families by providing a resort like atmosphere. People who want adults only would stay with Royal instead of exploring options. And when it came time for extended family vacations would join in on the larger ships. Royal was loyal to them by providing what they wanted. Everybody wins (including Royals bottom line). I would nominate a Radiance class ship, like Serenade, as an experimental ship.

I know there is a desire for this. I have seen here, and other sites, where people are trying to figure out when is the best time to cruise with the fewest number of kids.

Edited August 31, 2018 by coordinator23
Not finished

[Kylomom]

You have pretty much described what Celebrity already represents. The lack of bells and whistles generally draws a more mature crowd. We rarely see children on the Celebrity cruises. Could count them on one hand.

 

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

As above. They want you to move to Celebrity or Aramara. Royal is marketed towards families and will be more and more so as the older ships are retired.

 

You can’t be all things to all people. Stick with your strengths.

[Langley Cruisers]

You can’t be all things to all people. Stick with your strengths.

 

Perfectly stated and agree completely. No one line will satisfy every customer. I'm thankful for so many choices. :D

[2chiefs]

You have pretty much described what Celebrity already represents. The lack of bells and whistles generally draws a more mature crowd. We rarely see children on the Celebrity cruises. Could count them on one hand.

 

 

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Agreed. Which is why we are booking some cruises with Celebrity now.

However, I do agree with the OP. I would think this would be a good thing for RCI to at least try it on one of the older ships to see if they could also serve that segment. I would certainly book an adult only cruise with RCI or Celebrity in a heartbeat.

 

Even though Celebrity caters to a more adult crowd, they still allow kids. We have two long cruises booked with Celebrity and I would be very happy if I could count all the kids on one hand!! (Nothing against kids - been there, done it - I love my cell phone too but I put in the safe during the cruise) Sometimes it's just nice to get away....

[voyager70]

HAL also attracts an older clientele, may want to consider them as well. Or do what we do and try to avoid sailings when school is out if it's possible.

[2chiefs]

HAL also attracts an older clientele, may want to consider them as well. Or do what we do and try to avoid sailings when school is out if it's possible.

Yes, we do that too... Holidays especially tend to have a lot of kids as younger parents have less vacation time so they take advantage of paid days off while the kids are out of school.

[2chiefs]

<<<SNIP>>>Stick with your strengths.

Like Montgomery Wards, Kodak, Sears, K-Mart, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Radio Shack & Blackberry?

Sometimes you have to evolve and expand.....

:-)

[Sitzmark]

Like Montgomery Wards, Kodak, Sears, K-Mart, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Radio Shack & Blackberry?

Sometimes you have to evolve and expand.....

:-)

 

But since Royal owns Celebrity, why would they evolve one brand to emulate the other? They are marketing one towards one group, the other towards another group. trying to expand each to appeal to all simply confuses the customer and likely ends up with lower satisfaction.

[2chiefs]

But since Royal owns Celebrity, why would they evolve one brand to emulate the other? They are marketing one towards one group, the other towards another group. trying to expand each to appeal to all simply confuses the customer and likely ends up with lower satisfaction.

Maybe.

But Toyota owns Lexus but they both have small cars and they both huge SUV's so I don't think that argument holds. They don't appear to have lower satisfaction...

 

They are different price points and have to target their product to all levels of income.

 

I'm not a marketer but I think you need to appeal to multiple price points with the largest group of buyers. Right now there are many Baby Boomers who generally don't have kids, are probably looking for adult only venues. RCI being at a slightly lower price point than Celebrity might be a market they could exploit..... I, for one, would book them....

Interesting discussion....

[taglovestocruise]

Coming up on our third transatlantic on Oasis Class. Totally different vibe when the ships sails with 2000 fewer kids.

[2chiefs]

Coming up on our third transatlantic on Oasis Class. Totally different vibe when the ships sails with 2000 fewer kids.

Different vibe ... good?

Different vibe ... bad?

(for us it would be good...)

 

I've never done a transatlantic but have done the 5-day crossing from Hawaii to Vancouver. Definitely a different vibe...

[Biker19]

It went on to say other cruise lines, like Viking, are exclusively for adults.

They are still 18 months years away from their first ship launch, but I think Virgin was one of the first mainline cruise lines to announce this.

[voyager70]

Different vibe ... good?

Different vibe ... bad?

(for us it would be good...)

 

I've never done a transatlantic but have done the 5-day crossing from Hawaii to Vancouver. Definitely a different vibe...

 

We did a 12 night repo from Cape Liberty to Galveston in early November a few years ago. Hardly any kids on board. Very similar to a TA. One of our favorite cruises to date.

[ONECRUISER]

Not going happen with Royal. They've gone the other way. 30+ yrs ago was no kids or Families on them. Of course back then was lot more expensive for 2 then is 4 sailing today. Cruisers in 80's were called the Newlywed and nearly dead. Was one one end, now the other...

[taglovestocruise]

Different vibe ... good?

Different vibe ... bad?

(for us it would be good...)

 

I've never done a transatlantic but have done the 5-day crossing from Hawaii to Vancouver. Definitely a different vibe...

Instead of good I will say fantastic. Nothing against kids , but what a great cruise with a handful instead of a shipfull.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

trying to expand each to appeal to all simply confuses the customer and likely ends up with lower satisfaction.

Agreed. Royal has decided to put their energy into families, millennials, and the new-to-cruise segment. To be quite honest, Radiance and Vision Class barely fit into their strategy and brand as is. Designating them as adults-only, coupled with their already lack of features/gimmicks would basically be creating a separate brand. Much easier to sell off the small ships, and build new mega ships. There's a reason Royal is putting $900M into Voyager/Freedom Class and Oasis/Allure's refurbs, and nothing into Radiance/Vision Class.

 

This comes straight from the corporate website: "RCL's largest brand, Royal Caribbean International, is a contemporary brand focused on adventure-seeking families, Celebrity Cruises is a premium brand providing a modern luxury experience to discerning global travelers, and Azamara Club Cruises is a destination immersive brand offering luxury voyages to unique ports." Now they also have invested in Silversea, an ultra-luxury brand.

 

They've got all their bases covered.

[Langley Cruisers]

Sometimes you have to evolve and expand..... :-)

 

Some things are pretty good the way they are. Royal does evolve and expand, but that doesn't mean they will be going child-free (or adults only) anytime soon. Or ever. Royal is a family-friendly cruise line and is marketed as such. If you are interested (and I'm actually not sure if you are? Or you are just putting it out there?), people have listed several viable alternatives in order to have fewer kids on board.

[coordinator23]

I was just thinking that I’ve seen people looking for cruises with fewer children. They like the Royal brand and aren’t really looking to switch. Royal has some smaller ships that could fit that market. I have been on one X cruise. It was more expensive and did have fewer children. I just don’t see why there can’t be some flexibility since they already have the ships to meet that demand. Personally, I prefer Freedom class and below. I’m happy that they haven’t sold off the smaller ships.

[cb at sea]

There is a HUGE market for "family" cruises....RCI isn't going to go "adult only" anytime soon. Bank on it.

[Ourusualbeach]

I was just thinking that I’ve seen people looking for cruises with fewer children. They like the Royal brand and aren’t really looking to switch. Royal has some smaller ships that could fit that market. I have been on one X cruise. It was more expensive and did have fewer children. I just don’t see why there can’t be some flexibility since they already have the ships to meet that demand. Personally, I prefer Freedom class and below. I’m happy that they haven’t sold off the smaller ships.

 

Their ships are sailing full. They have no need to look at changing their business model.

[xeonpro]

I grew up cruising in later childhood. My wife and I have done numerous cruises (all on Royal) w/o kids. We'll be doing our first cruise since having the twins on an 11day Anthem cruise. Needed to do a JS to have enough room with the Pack N plays...not sure that's a market they want to get away from! They wouldn't want to push us as customers away as they've invested a lot in getting us to cruise in the first place.

[Iamcruzin]

If I want a more Adult experience I book with Princess and Celebrity. If it is a multi generational cruise or traveling with anyone under 35 I would book Royal Caribbean. You can't be everything to everybody. Royal Caribbean has found their market and they seem to be quite successful. The other lines that are going adult only can't compete with Royal Caribbean so they are chasing an undeveloped market. Princess and Celebrity still allow children to sail on their line.

[gatour]

You answered your own question.

 

I own an Audi S4.

 

Audi is owned by Volkswagon. Alot of the "under the covers pieces" are the same between a Volkswagon and Audi A4/S4. However there are also differences. My S4 has a V6 turbo and is a quattro (AWD). My car has a metallic paint job and the brake calipers are painted red, all included in the base drives.

 

While you can trick up a Volkswagon it still won't be an Audi.

 

While Audi wants to get Volkswagon drivers and they do, they don't want to totally muddy the waters between the two brands

 

Much the same as going between Royal Carribban and Celebrity. They each have their target markets.

 

Maybe.

But Toyota owns Lexus but they both have small cars and they both huge SUV's so I don't think that argument holds. They don't appear to have lower satisfaction...

 

They are different price points and have to target their product to all levels of income.

 

I'm not a marketer but I think you need to appeal to multiple price points with the largest group of buyers. Right now there are many Baby Boomers who generally don't have kids, are probably looking for adult only venues. RCI being at a slightly lower price point than Celebrity might be a market they could exploit..... I, for one, would book them....

Interesting discussion....

[Iamcruzin]

Maybe.

But Toyota owns Lexus but they both have small cars and they both huge SUV's so I don't think that argument holds. They don't appear to have lower satisfaction...

 

They are different price points and have to target their product to all levels of income.

 

I'm not a marketer but I think you need to appeal to multiple price points with the largest group of buyers. Right now there are many Baby Boomers who generally don't have kids, are probably looking for adult only venues. RCI being at a slightly lower price point than Celebrity might be a market they could exploit..... I, for one, would book them....

Interesting discussion....

I don't see Royal Caribbean being a bargain compared to Celebrity. I found better pricing for similar itineraries on Celebrity that included a drink package, paid gratuity or $300 OBC that were less expensive or equal in price per day that we are paying on Royal Caribbean. The only reason that we booked Royal is that our 23yr old son and a friend will be joining us. I would never book Royal just because they offered adult only cruises. As a matter of fact I am very turned off by their fake sales and three card monte tactics. I may never book with them again on that principle alone.