Royal Caribbean Says ‘2024 Was Exceptional,’ 2025 Off to Strong Start

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After a year that saw the debut of the worldโ€™s biggest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean Group is celebrating a banger of a year.

The cruise operator, which owns Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises and has a joint venture with TUI Group’ TUI Cruises, shared the big news during its annual earnings report. 

โ€œ2024 was exceptional,โ€ said Royal Caribbean Groupโ€™s President and CEO Jason Liberty.

He credited the winning year to the companyโ€™s โ€œflawless execution, which drove elevated demand across our leading brands, the early achievement of our Trifecta goals, and meaningful progress on our strategic priorities.โ€

Financial indicators revealed the company brought in $16.5 billion in total revenue in 2024 โ€“ an increase of $2.6 billion over 2023.

One of the main drivers for the successful year was the launch of several new and innovative ships, including Royal Caribbeanโ€™s first Icon Class ship, the 250,800-gross-ton Icon of the Seas, able to accommodate a maximum of 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members.

The first LNG-fueled cruise ship in the fleet, Icon of the Seas launched in January 2024, providing groundbreaking amenities like the oceanfront glass-domed AquaDome, Thrill Islandโ€™s high-speed slides and zip lines, and the tranquil Chill Island, featuring the largest freshwater pool at sea.

But the cruise line didnโ€™t stop there. In July 2024, it also introduced Utopia of the Seas, the sixth Oasis Class vessel purposely built to take 5,668 passengers on short, fun 3- and 4-night getaways from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas and the company’s private destination, Perfect Day at Coco Cay.

Read Also: Icon of the Seas AquaDome: Design, Features and Facts

Celebrity Cruises also introduced its fourth Edge Class vessel in late 2023, the 140,600-gross-ton Celebrity Ascent, providing 3,260 passengers a new option for Caribbean voyages from Fort Lauderdale in 2024.

In May 2024, Silversea took delivery of its second Nova Class ship, Silver Ray, to provide its 728 guests with a luxury liner for voyages in Alaska, Asia, and Australia.

Even TUI Cruises grew its fleet by adding Mein Schiff 7 in the summer of 2024.

For Royal Caribbean Group, this resulted in an 8 percent increase in Gross Margin Yields and an 11.6 percent rise in Net Yields.

Riding a Wave of Bookings

Following a year of fleet expansions, Royal Caribbean finished 2024 with some of its strongest bookings to date, including five of the biggest booking weeks in the companyโ€™s history. 

The anticipation is so great that the operator is now riding a wave of record bookings, with Januaryโ€™s crucial Wave season booking period kicking off the year with unprecedented demand.

Royal Caribbean's Star of the Seas
Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas (Photo Courtesy: Royal Caribbean)

The momentum Royal Caribbean Group is riding will certainly continue as TUI Cruises begins sailing its new InTUItion Class Mein Schiff Relax in March; Royal Caribbean delivers a twin Icon Class ship, the 250,800-gross-ton Star of the Seas, in August; and Celebrity Cruises debuts its 3,260-passenger Celebrity Xcel in November 2025.

During its earnings update, the cruise operator also revealed that it will enter the river cruise market through Celebrity Cruises, ordering 10 new vessels to navigate rivers by 2027.

โ€œWe are the best in the world at delivering the vacation of a lifetime, and this is the latest example of how we are building the capabilities to deliver a lifetime of vacations,โ€ said Liberty.

Royal Caribbean Groupโ€™s shipbuilding lineup also continues, with a seventh Oasis Class ship scheduled to arrive in 2028 and TUI Cruises introducing its second InTUItion Class vessel, Mein Schiff Flow, in 2026.

The company anticipates 23 percent adjusted earnings growth in 2025.

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Lissa Poirot
Lissa Poirot
Lissa Poirot has been covering travel for more than a decade, including sites such as TripAdvisor, CruiseCritic, The Points Guy, Family Vacation Critic, and Family Traveller. Her love of travel has led Lissa to visit more than 43 countries and has her on a mission to see every state in the U.S. (only 4 states to go!). When she's not traveling, she's exploring new attractions and events on the weekends, be it in New York City or Philadelphia, as Lissa lives between both fabulous cities.

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