To say that Royal Caribbean’s private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay, has been a success would be a major understatement. As the island has proven to be a massive draw for cruisers, Royal Caribbean has continuously added new experiences, both free and paid, to continue to attract new and repeat cruisers.
Hideaway Beach is Royal Caribbean’s adults-only area at its private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. The highly anticipated area opened in January 2024, and at first, pricing was rather low (under $30 per person in most cases) – presumably to build interest from cruisers.
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I first visited Hideaway Beach in March while sailing on Allure of the Seas, an Oasis-class ship, while there was another rather large ship in port.
Now, Royal Caribbean’s dynamic pricing model makes it somewhat tough to say how much something costs. Not only can the price of an excursion, drink package, or something like Hideaway Beach vary dramatically between cruises, but it’s not uncommon to see a completely different price from day to day for the same purchase.
Having said that, when I sailed on Allure in March, the standard price in the Royal Caribbean app was showing to be $39 for the entire time between booking and sailing. Day-to-day sales brought the price as low as $19.99 a few times.
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Image source: Dan Kline/Come Cruise With Me
Hideaway Beach prices just jumped higher
As mentioned, it’s tough to say how much anything costs that Royal Caribbean sells. However, I have a total of four cruises booked over the next year that visit Perfect Day at CocoCay, and within the past week, the price of a Hideaway Beach day pass has jumped higher for all of them. These four cruises are on a variety of ship classes and even include one instance where my ship is the only one scheduled to be at the private island.
Here's what I’m now seeing, in chronological order:
- I’m sailing on Utopia of the Seas at the end of September. There is no other ship scheduled to be at Perfect Day at Coco Cay the day we’re there (this is rare, and generally means the island won’t be as crowded as usual). The standard price is now showing as $79, and there’s currently a 5% off deal that brings it to $74.99.
- I’ll return to the island on Celebrity Reflection in October. There is another ship scheduled to be at Perfect Day at Coco Cay. The standard price for a Hideaway Beach day pass is $79, and the current deal is 15% off, or $66.99.
- I’m taking a 7-night cruise on Wonder of the Seas in mid-December that includes a Perfect Day visit. For this trip, a Hideaway Beach pass is listed as $69, with no discount or promotion currently available.
- Finally, I’m booked on a 4-night cruise on Voyager of the Seas in March 2025. In this case, a Hideaway Beach pass is listed at $79, with no discount or promotion available.
Editor's note: Come Cruise With Me's Dan Kline will be joining Matt on those first two cruises and our travel agent partner, PostCard Travel Planning has some great deals for anyone who wants to come along.
Why have Hideaway Beach prices doubled?
This isn’t exactly a statistically significant sampling, but I keep a pretty close watch on prices in my app, and until about two weeks ago, I had never seen a Hideaway Beach day pass for more than $50. Prices of $34.99 and $39.99 were quite common.
ALSO READ: Top travel agents share how to get the best price on your cruise
The bottom line is that it seems that Royal Caribbean has roughly doubled the going rate for a Hideaway Beach pass. It’s unclear if this is demand-driven – meaning that Royal Caribbean is regularly selling out the adults-only beach club and is raising prices – or if the cruise line is intentionally trying to limit attendance to maintain an exclusive feeling.
Come Cruise With Me reached out to Royal Caribbean’s public relations department and have not heard back at the time this article was published.
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