Usually when Royal Caribbean commits to a project, it does so with great fanfare.
The cruise line's decision to buy the port in Costa Maya and turn it into Perfect Day Mexico, for example, was the subject of a news release and a video heralding its arrival.
Royal Caribbean was not shy in introducing its plans for a second Perfect Day location.
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"Introducing the next bold moment in vacations, Royal Caribbean International reveals the first look at a new destination – Perfect Day Mexico," the cruise line wrote.
"The next Perfect Day, located on Mexico’s popular Caribbean coast in Mahahual, Mexico, opens in 2027 as the latest in the vacation brand’s growing lineup of destination experiences, which includes the top-rated Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas that set the bar in 2019.
"Vacationers of all ages have in store a slice of paradise that combines Royal Caribbean’s adrenaline-pumping thrills and ways to chill with the vibrancy, culture and beauty of Mexico."
Similar treatment was given to Royal Caribbean's decision to build beach clubs in Nassau and Cozumel. That makes it surprising that the cruise line confirmed a massive new project in a casual comment from Chief Executive Jason Liberty in response to a question during the company's third-quarter earnings call.
Royal Caribbean adding a third Royal Beach Club
Royal Caribbean had shared plans to build another Perfect Day on Lelepa, a Vanuatuan island off the northwest coast of the island of Efate. That's roughly 1,000 miles east of Australia.
It has not said much about those plans since the Covid pandemic hit.
"Jay Schneider, chief product innovation officer for Royal Caribbean, told Travel Weekly earlier this year that Royal was committed to developing the Vanuatu destination 'in some way, shape or form,' but said it might not be a Perfect Day experience," according to Travel Weekly.
Liberty explained what would happen with that island during the Q3 earnings call in answer to a question as to how new private destinations will impact the cruise line.
"And I don't think we can think of something that would not generate more demand because, of course, we're going to take the learnings from CocoCay and we'll obviously apply things that work exceptionally well," he said.
"And there's things that we can do better because that's kind of our continuous improvement mantra, we will certainly do so to drive really strong demand."
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Then, Liberty let cat out of the bag as to its plans for Vanatua.
"We're going to have the Royal Beach Clubs, one in Nassau, we're going to have one in Cozumel as well in Vanuatu, which is in the South Pacific," he said. "So there are other things that we're doing that will also be value drivers for our shareholders and also improve our yield profile."
The beach clubs are similar to Perfect Day, but they are added-fee experiences, not included ones
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