It was no accident that Royal Caribbean International introduced a party vibe to its newest ship, the Utopia of the Seas, which launched short cruises from Port Canaveral last month.
That's because Royal Caribbean Group is sharpening its focus on attracting the growing number of young people willing to cruise.
One in every two customers across its brands is a millennial or younger, Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, told investors during the company's Q2 earnings call last month. While consumers at large have 10% more leisure time than they had before the pandemic, he said millennials, ages 28 to 43, and younger generations such as Gen Z, the oldest of which is 27, intend to dedicate more of that time to travel than any other leisure category.
"Utopia is just a great example of our intentionality," he said, pointing to the ship's three- and four-day cruises out of Port Canaveral. "It's us trying to address these multiple generations, these multiple experiences that people are looking to collect, and trying hard to meet our guests there."
Liberty also said that nearly seven in 10 guests on the company's short Caribbean cruise products are either new to cruising or new to the brand and that those guests are "always skewing more toward younger customers."
New cruise customers are up double digits across the company compared with last year. Among new cruisers who sailed on the company's short product, 90% indicated they will cruise again, with roughly half planning to return for a longer cruise, Liberty said.
Millennials are also gaining share across Royal Caribbean Group's family of brands faster than any other generation, Liberty said. For instance, Silversea Cruises is also attracting more millennials, with its newest ship class, the Nova, seeing a higher mix of younger guests than the rest of the fleet, he said.
Travel advisors say they're not surprised that Royal is attracting younger cruisers, saying that the industry is exploding with new megaships that attract families, multigenerational travel and friend celebrations like bachelorette parties and birthdays.
Short cruises are popular with the younger demographic, said Michelle Fee, founder and CEO of Cruise Planners. While more than half of its clients are at least 45 years old and book longer cruises, "clients between the ages of 25 and 34 years primarily book Caribbean itineraries, with almost 50% booking shorter Caribbean itineraries of three to six nights in length," she said.
Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com, added that short cruises tend to specifically attract a young clientele and those who are working but can't get away for a long trip.
He also said Royal's average age will naturally decline because it is selling "a lot more families than normal. So of course, it's a foregone conclusion; that's going to push their age demo down."
*Chart did not include data for Gen Alpha cruisers. Source: CLIA Cruise Traveler Sentiment, Perception, and Intent Survey (March 2024); cruise travelers who have cruised in the past two years
Trending younger
Over the past two years, millennials made up 22% of cruisers while Gen Z reached 14%, meaning these two groups of under-43-year-olds made up 36% of cruise passengers, according to a CLIA survey from March of its members' passengers.
The average age of a cruiser is now 46 years old, down a touch from 2020, when it was 47.6, the CLIA research found.
Across generations, the survey found, the intention to become a repeat cruiser is high: 74% of Gen Z plan to cruise again; 81% of millennials; 84% of Gen X and baby boomers; and 74% of the Silent Generation.
Carnival Corp. is also noticing shifts with the ages of its customers but no significant swings, CEO Josh Weinstein said during the company's Q2 earnings call in June.
Some of its cruise brands are seeing average ages skew a few years younger than before the pandemic, but other lines have shifted a year or two older, he said.
But the company isn't focused on any specific generation, Weinstein said.
"We don't just want millennials; I can't say it strongly enough," he said. For example, a brand like Holland America Line or Cunard needs people who have time and money, which tends to lead to an older crowd that might not be working anymore, he said.
"Make no mistake, we're happy with our mix, and we're happy to take many folks in the boomer generation and Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z. You name it, we want it all," he said.