Many people who have never cruised don't realize that the family-friendly cruise lines have a massive advantage over Disney World and Universal Studios.
When you book a theme park vacation you have three distinct expenses: your hotel or other lodging, your park admission, and food. For a family spending a week at Disney World or Universal Studios, just your theme park admission can cost more than booking a cabin for four on a Royal Caribbean, Carnival or MSC Cruises ship.
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At Disney World a five-day basic ticket that can be used between Sept. 7-14 — one of the cheaper times of the year — costs $541.23. That simple ticket limits you to one Disney park per day. For a family of four, that's $2,164.92, and it assumes two nonpark days in a 7-day vacation.
The same week at Universal Studios actually costs slightly more per ticket, and a five-day single-park pass will set you back $596 per person, or $2,384.
Royal Caribbean offers a seven-night sailing on Wonder of the Seas, its third-newest ship, from Miami, where you can currently book an ocean-view cabin for four (interiors are sold out) for $2,784. That's a little more than what you would pay just for tickets — no lodging or food — for a visit to Disney World or Universal.
Booking an interior cabin for a four-night cruise for two adults and two children from Sept. 9-13 on Utopia of the Seas — Royal Caribbean's newest ship — will cost you $1416.68.
Compared with the theme parks, that's a great deal given what's included: your cabin plus enormous choices of entertainment and food.
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Image source: Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean sees increased demand
While people have been traveling and spending money, a general economic unease — perhaps because we're in an election year — has pushed consumers toward value. Royal Caribbean Group Chief Executive Jason Liberty has seen several positive signs for his company.
"We continue to see a very positive sentiment from our customers, bolstered by a resilient economy, low unemployment, stabilizing inflation, and record high household net worth," he said during his company's second-quarter earnings call. "Consumer preference continues to shift toward spending on experiences, particularly prioritizing toward travel."
Liberty also noted another reason he remains bullish on Royal Caribbean's prospects.
"Consumers have 10% more vacation days compared to 2019 and they are using half of that increase to travel," he added. "In fact, our research suggests that consumers are spending more on travel than any other leisure category and that they intend to increase their travel spend in the next 12 months.
"Cruise remains an attractive value proposition and cruise purchase intent is high and continues to strengthen. Consumer financials remain healthy across demographics."
Royal Caribbean goes short to go long
Liberty also outlined some of Royal Caribbean's strategy when it comes to growing its customer base.
"Putting customers at the center of our orbit has been critical to our success and allows us to meet guests for all of life's moments, transforming the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations," he said.
"A key differentiator for us on this journey is our hardware, where we are constantly innovating. This quarter, we took delivery of Utopia of the Seas, the ultimate weekend getaway, a shift positioned to be another game changer for our short Caribbean product."
Traditionally, cruise lines have used their newest ships for seven-day cruises. By offering shorter cruises on its newest ship, RCL sacrifices revenue in the short term in the interest of attracting new cruisers and turning them into long-term customers.
"Our short Caribbean cruise product is an important entry point for new-to-cruise and new-to-brand, with nearly seven in 10 guests following in these categories and always skewing more toward younger customers," he said.
"Younger consumers find this product particularly appealing. In fact, approximately 40% of guests who follow in this demographic have indicated that they intend to book a short vacation in the next 12 months."
The rate of return for those customers has been very high.
"Moreover, 90% of guests who sail on our short product intend to cruise again, with roughly half planning to return for a longer cruise," Liberty added.
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The CEO sees higher prices going forward and says that won't hurt demand, for one key reason.
"Our pricing continues to increase into 2025 and 2026. And that's not just happening in the short product; that's happening in the ultra-luxury space as well," he said. "And I think people say, 'well, how can that be?' I think it's still just a reality that there's still a 20% value gap to land-based vacations. And you get a lot of bang for the buck when you're traveling with our brands."
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