Royal Caribbean Group has hinted it could expand Celebrity River Cruises’ fleet before the first ship in the new line has been launched.
The brand has signed an initial order for 10 “transformative” ships in Europe but Royal Caribbean Group president and chief executive Jason Liberty said its ambitions “go far beyond that” with Silversea also an option to start river cruises.
On Royal Caribbean Group’s earnings call, Liberty said the group would “not wait until 2027” to order more ships.
“We placed an initial order for 10 transformative ships which will serve as the foundation for this new Edge Class-inspired product,” he explained.
“Our ambitions, however, go far beyond that. We see river cruising as an exciting growth opportunity that aligns with our strategy of turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations, expanding our ecosystem of vacation offerings and broadening our reach into adjacent lines of businesses.”
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Liberty said the group would also consider river cruise ships for sister line Silversea, explaining: “As we build up this engine for river under Celebrity, it will certainly provide opportunity for ultra-luxury guests to consider a river experience under Silversea.
“We’re going to start off with Celebrity. That’s where we think there is great scale of opportunity. And then, of course, we’ll be looking to see if there’s other ways to expand it for our other brand.”
Liberty said the Royal Caribbean Group planned to leverage its database of 35 million customers to “flywheel generative high-quality demand” and incentivise passengers to “stay within our ecosystem” through its loyalty programme.
He added half of the company’s guests had either already experienced a river cruise or expressed an intention to go on a river cruise.
Liberty said he did not foresee “a demand challenge” for the new venture and anticipated “some demographic changes” to shift the average age of Celebrity Cruises from mid-50s.
Liberty said: “River cruising is a sizeable and attractive market that has experienced double-digit growth over the last decade, driven by increasing demand from both seasoned cruisers as well as new customers.
“It is a very fragmented market that presents an exciting opportunity for us to win substantial market share.”
He highlighted it would consider rivers around the world in addition to Europe for its itineraries, with more information on deployment and fleet size coming later this year.
Liberty added: “We have gone into this very prepared, very buttoned up, and this is not a hobby for us. We are taking this extremely seriously.”