Join a cruise group on social media or one on one of the cruise aficionado websites and the conversation invariably turns to one thing: "where should I stay the night before my cruise. It's a question that makes sense because many about-to-be cruise passengers fly in a night or two before their cruise and they generally want a hotel that offers transportation to the port.
It's a question asked so often on various Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) Facebook groups that members of those groups often point newer members to old versions of the same question. Booking a hotel for before or after a cruise adds a layer of complexity to cruising that's not welcome because cruises already require air travel unless they live within driving distance from a port.
It's a problem that Royal Caribbean has largely ignored. The cruise line helps with air travel through its Air2Sea program -- which, if customers use it to book their flights gives them certain guarantees about not missing their cruise -- but it does not offer a similar service for booking hotel rooms.
With little fanfare, that changed on Feb. 2 (sort of) as one of the company's brands, but not its namesake brand, has added a hotel room booking service. But, that may not be the whole story if you are a Royal Caribbean customer of the company's titular brand.
Image source: Daniel Kline.
Which Royal Caribbean Brand Is Offering Hotel Booking?
Royal Caribbean's Celebrity brand has introduced a hotel room book service that lets customers book four and five-star hotels for an unlimited number of nights before or after your cruise. There is, however, some hope that the offer will be soon extended to other brands within the Royal Caribbean group.
"While the program is now available for Celebrity Cruises only, it may be coming to Royal Caribbean too. Jessica Suchman, Celebrity's Sales Training and Development Specialist, told travel agents in a webinar, 'this will be a tool for all of our brands at Royal Caribbean Group, but we're beginning here with Celebrity Cruises,'" reported Royal Caribbean Blog's Matt Hochberg,
Currently, you can only book a hotel room through the "Hotels By Celebrity" program if have a Celebrity Cruises reservation number.
The website allows visitors to book up to nine rooms at a time provided the check-in and check-out dates are the same.
"With added health protocols, spending a night or two in the departure city before the cruise begins has never been more important, and offering a hotel booking option offers a more complete vacation planning tool for guests," Hochberg wrote.
Royal Caribbean currently requires passengers to provide a negative Covid test taken within two days of their cruise departure date. That can be done before leaving home if it meets the timeframe, but many cruisers have opted to schedule their tests in the city they are departing from.
Why Is This a Good Move for Royal Caribbean Stock?
Royal Caribbean and Carnival both cater to families. Making it easier to book a cruise along with all of the other things the customer needs to actually take their trip provides a meaningful level of added convenience.
Under the current system, using Air2Sea lets people know what their airfare will be as they book their cruise. That's important because it saves them from having a higher-than-expected cost for travel after the fact and it gives them a true picture of what their vacation may cost.
In addition, Royal Caribbean also has the ability to book blocks of seats from certain cities to bring airfares down. Air2Sea also offers airport transfers which adds another profit center for the company along with an added convenience for customers who fly in on the same day as their cruise.
Adding hotel booking to the mix basically adds in the last piece of the puzzle. Customers can book a full trip all through one company without having to use a travel agent. That's a big convenience for customers which should lead to more bookings for Royal Caribbean as well as more profit since the company likely gets a bounty from the hotels it books customers in the way any travel website would.
