Royal Caribbean’s World Cruise is 70% Sold Out

Royal Caribbean’s 274-night world cruise aboard the Serenade of the Seas is 70 per cent booked after going on sale recently to just former loyalty members.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said the average price of a room is $75,000 for a standard balcony cabin, which would mean a ticket price of $136 per person per day assuming double occupancy. 

“The Royal Suite sold within a week at $760,000 and all of these suites have booked with non-refundable deposits, so even we were taken aback by the Unbelievable response of our loyalty customers,” said Bayley.

“The fact that within a week we were 70 per cent booked on a ship that carries around 2,100 guests and is on a nine-month world cruise was just remarkable and I think that’s indicative of what we’re seeing.”

New Virgin Cruise Ship Gets Her Colours

The Valiant Lady now has her colours, as the final touches are being put on the hull of the second cruise ship for Virgin Voyages in Palermo, Sicily.

Delivered earlier this year to start up Virgin Voyages, the 2,770-guest ship is expected to start sailing in early 2022.

The Valiant Lady will officially make her debut in the UK before heading to Barcelona to sail the Med in the summer.

With dates ranging from March 18 through May 14, 2022, the Valiant Lady will sail on a series of three new itineraries, including a mix of three-night, 11-night and 12-night voyages.

The hull art on the Valiant Lady was created by artist Hillary Wilson, where the new mermaid celebrates the strong, beautiful, friendly and modern embodiment of a black American woman, according to a press release Virgin issued over the summer. 

“Like the Scarlet Lady that came before her, the Valiant Lady will feature a glamorous new mermaid at the helm. Virgin Voyages’ leading ladies, its mermaids, are an important symbol for the brand and meant to keep guests safe on their voyage,” the cruise line said.

Royal Caribbean’s Ships: 44 Percent Full in Q3 But Cash Flow Accretive

Independence of the Seas in Southampton Photo Credit Spacejunkie2

How full are Royal Caribbean Group’s cruise ships?

The company reported on Friday that ships in its core deployment regions in the third quarter saw a load factor of 44 per cent occupancy.

Despite the low load factor, the company said that those ships were cash flow accretive excluding start-up costs.

Total revenue per passenger cruise day was up 12 per cent versus record levels seen in 2019 based on strong onboard revenue performance.

The company said in its third-quarter earnings release it hopes to ramp up to load factors of 65 to 70 per cent during the fourth quarter and expects ships in the fourth quarter will be cash flow accretive even when including start-up costs.  

By the end of the year, the company expects that 50 out of 61 ships will have returned to service, representing almost 100% of core itinerary capacity and approximately 80% of worldwide capacity. 

The remaining ships are expected to return by the spring of 2022 and return to historical load factors in the third quarter of 2022.