Royal Caribbean president and chief executive Jason Liberty on Tuesday (28 January) pledged his support for the river sector, and revealed more details about Celebrity’s surprise announcement hours earlier.
Liberty explained how Celebrity hopes to launch two 180-passenger river ships in 2027 with four more arriving in 2028 and another four in 2029. Celebrity River Cruises will launch on European rivers before expanding onto other waterways.
Speaking during full-year earnings call, Liberty stressed Celebrity’s 10-ship deal was an “initial order”, adding: “We’re not going to wait until 2027 to order more ships. There’s a lot more to come. This is not a hobby for us.”
Since succeeding Richard Fain at the helm of Royal Caribbean Group, Liberty has expressed his desire to keep customers “within its eco-system” by offering them a range of cruise products.
Prior to the earnings call, Celebrity said it would bring “the elevated design and sophistication of the Edge series ocean ships to the river”.
Asked if Royal Caribbean Group would look to put its ultra-luxury Silversea customers on Celebrity’s river ships, Liberty said: “We will provide opportunities for ultra-luxury guests. We’ll start with Celebrity and then we will look if there are other opportunities to expand with our other brands.”
He outlined how Royal expects Celebrity River Cruises to source passengers from the same markets as its sister ocean line. “For decades, we’ve built out a set of brands that are globally sourced,” he said. “That can range from 80% of guests being sourced from the US but there are times when we’re sourcing 60% from the US.
“We would expect our sourcing to be similar for Celebrity River Cruises to what we see on the ocean side of things. These ships are not Icon of the Seas, they will hold 180 passengers.”
Liberty vowed to “tease” details about Celebrity River Cruises onboard product and “build up what it’s going to be”. “We will be talking more about it,” he added.
“In the four hours since we’ve announced Celebrity River Cruises, just watching the amount of interest is exceptional from travel partners and guests. That comes down to trust.
“River cruise is a great space for us to get into. There is a lot of trust in our brands that we’re going to deliver the vacations that we advertise.”
Liberty said Celebrity will initially operate on European rivers, before adding: “There are rivers around the world that we want our guests to experience."
Liberty said Celebrity River Cruises could quickly become the second largest river operator behind Viking River Cruises for “significantly less money than we paid for [Celebrity] Xcel 2”. The group confirmed an order for another Edge series ship on 22 January.
But he added: “This is not about chasing Viking customers. This is about leveraging our customers and keeping them in our eco-system. We then get more repeat guests that are happy and support us because they trust us.”
