The Ultimate World Cruise has garnered a viral amount of attention, and it won't be Royal Caribbean's last.
The 9-month cruise around the world is set to visit 65 countries, more than 150 destinations, and 11 Great Wonders of the World.
The sailing started in December of 2023 and will end on September 10th, 2024.
As of July 11th, the cruise is 213 days into sailing, and Royal Caribbean has already announced its intention for another.
Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International's President and CEO, spoke of the world cruise during a Q&A session on the 2024 President's Cruise.
A cruiser named Mel asked if there would ever be another world cruise: "Is it going to be part of Royal Caribbean's offerings going forward?"
Mr. Bayley applauded the cruise as "a fantastic adventure" and explained what it would take for Royal Caribbean to do another.
The Ultimate World Cruise has been "a great success"
Michael Bayley started his response by praising the line's first World Cruise.
"First of all, I think the World Cruise has been a fantastic, unbelievable product for Royal Caribbean to launch and operate. I think it has been a great success."
While this wasn't the first world cruise, this is the first time that Royal Caribbean has done one, making it one of the only big and well-known cruise lines to do so.
Mr. Bayley believes the spirit of the World Cruise is similar to that of Royal Caribbean International itself.
"It's like the ultimate adventure to me," he said. "I applaud and admire everybody who took the Ultimate World Cruise. What a fantastic adventure, once in a lifetime."
What makes the World Cruise so exciting is that it sails around the world, taking passengers to every continent on the planet.
The sailing represents excitement, adventure, and exploration—concepts similar to the cruise line's brand.
Royal Caribbean prides itself on onboard thrills, exciting itineraries, and thrilling vacations, appealing to adventurous travelers and committed cruisers.
"You sail around the world for nine months, and you've got all these incredible places," Mr. Bayley said.
For guests who seek to explore the world on a cruise ship, the Ultimate World Cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see 65 countries.
In addition to the excitement ingrained in such a sailing, this year's World Cruise has garnered a significant amount of attention.
Since its departure, the sailing has gone viral on social media, with cruisers onboard depicting their own "reality series" about life onboard.
Even Mel, the cruiser who asked the question on the President's Cruise, described the sailing as "a massive success in terms of branding and marketing."
Read more: Royal Caribbean's 9-month world cruise is getting attention for "drama", but it's nothing new
Royal Caribbean wants to do another one, despite the challenges involved
Despite the great success of the World Cruise, Royal Caribbean found it a challenging endeavor.
"My team thinks it sucks," Michael Bayley joked, "because it's been extremely complicated and massively expensive."
Mel referenced some of the issues the cruise has faced in her question.
"Some things haven't gone to plan, specifically with the circumnavigation of Africa, and obviously that would come with a massive cost to the organization."
After geopolitical issues in the area of the Red Sea, Royal Caribbean chose to circumvent the area and change "Segment 3" of the voyage.
Passengers voted to sail an "Immersive Africa" experience instead, sailing around the continent of Africa before arriving at the Mediterranean Sea.
The Ultimate World Cruise has also been host to flooding onboard, canceled ports in South America, and the unfortunate death of a passenger onboard.
In addition to changing the cruise itinerary, Royal Caribbean also refunded passengers 25% off their Segment 3 cruise fare. Passengers who didn't want to sail the new itinerary could also receive a full refund for the segment.
Because of these issues, cruising has been an expensive labor for the cruise line.
Mr. Bayley said the management team had to debate the idea of another one. However, despite initial hesitation, Royal Caribbean will do another Ultimate World Cruise.
"The question is when?" Mr. Bayley continued. "We don't know when that is."
Another challenge the World Cruise has presented is that the cruise needs to take place on a different ship, Mr. Bayley says.
"The ship that we picked is a great ship, but we need a ship with more outside staterooms."
The World Cruise is currently taking place on Serenade of the Seas, a Radiance class ship that was launched in 2003 and enhanced in 2012.
Serenade has 1,073 guest staterooms in total, with 61 suites, 517 balconies, 246 oceanview rooms, and 249 inside cabins.
The line's newer ships have a higher percentage of balcony staterooms, so Mr. Bayley believes the cruise line should switch to a newer ship for the World Cruise.
However, it's also not practical to put such a comprehensive itinerary on a big ship, so the cruise would have to take place on a newer, but smaller vessel.
Read more: 12 differences between the big and small Royal Caribbean cruise ships
The next Ultimate World Cruise could be on a new Class
One solution could be for the cruise line to schedule the World Cruise on a Voyager-Class ship.
The Voyager Class is a small class of vessels that debuted in 1999, and runs slightly larger than the Radiance Class.
Not every port can accommodate bigger ships, so a smaller vessel can bring passengers to even more ports worldwide.
However, another option could be to organize it on a new class of ship.
"We're also still working on a new Class of ship," Michael Bayley hinted on the President's Cruise. "So we're trying to figure it out."
Royal Caribbean has hinted at the possibility of creating a new, smaller class of ship.
Calling the idea "Project Discovery," the cruise line wants to update its smaller cruise ships and allow passengers to travel to more ports.
The Captain of Radiance of the Seas commented that the new class of ship would be around the size of the Radiance Class, which have the capacity for around 2,500-2,700 passengers.
When this new line is launched, these ships could be a great option for the Ultimate World Cruise.
They'll be able to travel to more distant ports while also offering a wider selection of cabin categories.
Read more: Why you shouldn't avoid older and smaller cruise ships
While the Royal Caribbean CEO and President didn't give any more details, he ended his comments by assuring cruisers that the World Cruise is here to stay.
"We're going to do another ultimate world cruise, and when we're ready, we'll announce it," he said. "But we need time and we need to find some solutions to make it work for everybody."
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