Will Celebrity Share Royal Beach Club - Paradise Island?

[Tom and Ingrid]

...the same way it is now sharing the CocoCay resort?  Is it on any 2025 itineraries yet?

 

Seeing how RCL is developing a series of these "destinations", I wonder if X can avoid falling into the trap of depending too heavily on these options. I do find the Bahamas stops less and less enticing, so maybe with kids, it would be a nice option to just head straight to a nice "private" (with 2,000+ of your closest friends) beach, versus the current situation.

 

I also wonder how many RCL has in the works for their Perfect Day destinations, and where else they will put them. 

[FeliciaB]

My guess is they will share it with scheduling priority going to RC.  

[Tom and Ingrid]

Just now, FeliciaB said:

My guess is they will share it with scheduling priority going to RC.  

Seems like that's sort of what they do with CocoCay, right? But more than one ship can be at CocoCay per day, too?  

[bEwAbG]

X just started using CocoCay years after it opened.  I would bet that RCCL will use the newer one exclusively for awhile.  I think there is an open question as to whether or not offering CocoCay or any other private beach day is a net positive for X yet.

[leaveitallbehind]

47 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said:

Seems like that's sort of what they do with CocoCay, right? But more than one ship can be at CocoCay per day, too?  

CocoCay, with its most recent redevelopment into a huge waterpark, was designed to handle 12,000+ people, which essentially is two Oasis class ships at once.  It is rare anymore to only have one ship docked there. There will almost always now be two RCCL ships or one Celebrity and one RCCL ship on any given day.

 

I see no reason why, in an effort to continue to develop additional revenue, that Celebrity won't also follow suit with RCCL on any RCI private development at any given common port of call.

 

I think the long term viability with this for Celebrity will depend on customer feedback and potential sales impact as RCCL and Celebrity have two opposite primary targeted demographics - families and adults respectively.  CocoCay is very much developed for families with children.  That may wear thin over time with Celebrity passengers, especially as they will be docked there mainly with kid filled RCCL mega ships. 

 

It may depend on the resulting "theme" with the Paradise Island venture.  Who knows?

Edited June 16 by leaveitallbehind

[booklady26]

11 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I think the long term viability with this for Celebrity will depend on customer feedback and potential sales impact as RCCL and Celebrity have two opposite primary targeted demographics - families and adults respectively.  CocoCay is very much developed for families with children.  That may wear thin over time with Celebrity passengers, especially as they will be docked there mainly with kid filled RCCL mega ships. 

 

 

I completely agree. RCCL does a great job for their target demographic, which is families and younger people in general. But Celebrity's demographic is different. Much has been said about the new CEO trying to "Royal-ize" X, but I'm not sure it's going to work. She seems to think that what works for Royal should work for X. Based on the numerous daily emails I get from X, they are really pushing short cruises which stop at CocoCay, which leads me to believe they are not as popular as they thought they would be with X passengers. I don't even like being in a port like St Thomas or St Maarten when a Monstrosity of the Seas disgorges 5-6,000 passengers. If I were to take a cruise which stops at CocoCay (which is not very likely) my idea of a perfect day would be to stay onboard. 

 

[leaveitallbehind]

26 minutes ago, booklady26 said:

I completely agree. RCCL does a great job for their target demographic, which is families and younger people in general. But Celebrity's demographic is different. Much has been said about the new CEO trying to "Royal-ize" X, but I'm not sure it's going to work. She seems to think that what works for Royal should work for X. Based on the numerous daily emails I get from X, they are really pushing short cruises which stop at CocoCay, which leads me to believe they are not as popular as they thought they would be with X passengers. I don't even like being in a port like St Thomas or St Maarten when a Monstrosity of the Seas disgorges 5-6,000 passengers. If I were to take a cruise which stops at CocoCay (which is not very likely) my idea of a perfect day would be to stay onboard. 

 

I hope her intent is not to "Royal-ize" Celebrity.  Celebrity succeeds because of its own demographic identity, and to attempt to blend that with that of a sister line IMO would be disastrous.  RCCL, Celebrity, and Silversea IMO all succeed as part to the RCI family as a result of being different from each other. Everyone has a line they can choose.

 

I do know that with the launch of the A-class ships a younger vibe has emerged, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is intentionally expanding the age range of the targeted adult demographics to appeal to a boarder and younger, but still adult, overall market.  But please draw the line at families with kids!  Retain the Celebrity identity.

 

IMO I also think the expansion with Celebrity to include CocoCay as a port of call is to accelerate the ROI from the development there, which was significantly interfered with by the pandemic. If successful it would be good for RCI in general. But it may be a stretch in the long run given the targeted demographics of CocoCay.  Time will tell.

Edited June 16 by leaveitallbehind

[Baron Barracuda]

My understanding is the Paradise Beach facility will be more sedate and totally extra charge which will discourage many.  Not sure about the one they plan to build in Cozumel.  Don't believe Laura is the decision maker on scheduling.  RCG is obviously seeking to maximize passenger visits to Coco Cay so will bring in as many mega ships as possible.  The smaller X ships will have a secondary priority.  Really need for Haiti to calm down so they can reopen Labadee.

[Trent0341]

1 hour ago, leaveitallbehind said:

But please draw the line at families with kids!  Retain the Celebrity identity.

 

Friendly heads up, Ill be on the Beyond in mid-July with my family so you may want to skip that one.

[Tyler414]

3 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 CocoCay is very much developed for families with children.  That may wear thin over time with Celebrity passengers, especially as they will be docked there mainly with kid filled RCCL mega ships. 

 

Seems like a lot of things wear thin with Celebrity passengers. 😂

[leaveitallbehind]

46 minutes ago, Trent0341 said:

 

Friendly heads up, Ill be on the Beyond in mid-July with my family so you may want to skip that one.

No offense intended.  Our family including our three children grew up cruising on RCCL and there is nothing better than cruising with your children.  But now that they are all adults we prefer the quieter cruising with Celebrity.  My comment was intended to address the differences between the mega ship amusement parks of RCCL with a large contingent of children v the adult natured atmosphere of the smaller ships of Celebrity, which IMO should remain.  Having some families with children on board Celebrity certainly is welcome.  That's a far cry from what you experience with thousands of kids on RCCL.  I would hate to see Celebrity become that.

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, FeliciaB said:

My guess is they will share it with scheduling priority going to RC.  

I expect there will be a charge so it won't matter. Each ship will be allocated a certain number of excursions. They will be able to adjust based on demand. 

[Trent0341]

20 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

No offense intended.  Our family including our three children grew up cruising on RCCL and there is nothing better than cruising with your children.  But now that they are all adults we prefer the quieter cruising with Celebrity.  My comment was intended to address the differences between the mega ship amusement parks of RCCL with a large contingent of children v the adult natured atmosphere of the smaller ships of Celebrity, which IMO should remain.  Having some families with children on board Celebrity certainly is welcome.  That's a far cry from what you experience with thousands of kids on RCCL.  I would hate to see Celebrity become that.

 

That's fair... we wouldn't want that either.  We are "quiet" cruisers which is why we like Celebrity.  In fairness we have never been on RCCL... did Carnival for our first cruise and would never do that again.  

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I expect there will be a charge so it won't matter. Each ship will be allocated a certain number of excursions. They will be able to adjust based on demand. 

It will also be based on number of ships available for itineraries to the Bahamas.  RCCL has significantly more ships based in Florida than Celebrity and likely will dominate activity there based on that.  Their ships will likely be there far more frequently.

Edited June 16 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

1 hour ago, Trent0341 said:

 

In fairness we have never been on RCCL... did Carnival for our first cruise and would never do that again.  

No comparison between Carnival and RCCL IMO. No interest in cruising with them.  RCCL compares more similarly to NCL.

Edited June 16 by leaveitallbehind

[Tom and Ingrid]

15 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Having some families with children on board Celebrity certainly is welcome.  That's a far cry from what you experience with thousands of kids on RCCL.  I would hate to see Celebrity become that.

This is my feeling too.  I generally like seeing kids in the mix, and have rarely felt the kids were too many for the ship. A recent cruise, though, did have the "unchaperoned and running wild" group of kids who would - understandably - bring a bit of chaos to places where folks were generally expecting & wanting calm.  When they're in the X kids programs, I don't think I notice kids much, but when bored and on their own? A bit more disruptive.

[orville99]

19 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

It may depend on the resulting "theme" with the Paradise Island venture. 

If it ever gets built...🙄

[PTC DAWG]

6 minutes ago, orville99 said:

If it ever gets built...🙄

Agreed, people are fretting about something that is far into the future at best.  
 

That said, I have been to Coco Cay with 2 ships there, it is fairly easy to find areas that aren’t jammed with people if that is what you seek. 

[leaveitallbehind]

14 minutes ago, orville99 said:

If it ever gets built...🙄

Not sure why it wouldn't.  They broke ground in April and it is scheduled for a 2025 opening.  Here is a link to the press release:

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1716/construction-begins-on-royal-caribbeans-first-royal-beach-club/

 

Edited June 17 by leaveitallbehind

[PTC DAWG]

38 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Not sure why it wouldn't.  They broke ground in April and it is scheduled for a 2025 opening.  Here is a link to the press release:

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1716/construction-begins-on-royal-caribbeans-first-royal-beach-club/

 

Thanks for the link..

[leaveitallbehind]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

Thanks for the link..

No problem.  There also is this website link with more information about the resort:

https://royalbeachclubatparadiseisland.com/

[orville99]

40 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Not sure why it wouldn't.  They broke ground in April and it is scheduled for a 2025 opening.

We were in Nassau three weeks ago, and there were absolutely no signs of life where they are building the beach club. They may have stuck shovels in the dirt for a photo op, but there's a lot of demo work that needs to happen before they do anything promising.

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

We were in Nassau three weeks ago, and there were absolutely no signs of life where they are building the beach club. They may have stuck shovels in the dirt for a photo op, but there's a lot of demo work that needs to happen before they do anything promising.

They are on island time..

[leaveitallbehind]

RCCL also has similar plans for 2026 in Cozumel. I had also heard at one time thoughts for a Fiji based location as well.

 

Here is a link to information regarding Cozumel (and Paradise Island)

:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/royal-private-destinations

[leaveitallbehind]

10 minutes ago, orville99 said:

We were in Nassau three weeks ago, and there were absolutely no signs of life where they are building the beach club. They may have stuck shovels in the dirt for a photo op, but there's a lot of demo work that needs to happen before they do anything promising.

I understand that seeing is believing. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't happening or won't make the 2025 target.  Maybe the groundbreaking was just a photo op and the logistics of that which you are referring is still being arranged to follow.  Time will tell.

 

Interesting - if you go to google maps satellite overlay of Paradise Island there is a pin marker for Royal Beach club at the location with pictures attached of the proposed development.  

Edited June 17 by leaveitallbehind