Hotels may be seeing price sensitivity but Royal Caribbean is not: Liberty

During Thursday's earnings call, Barclays analyst Brandt Montour asked about any pricing issues for 2025 entry-level itineraries, older ships or the mainstream Royal Caribbean International brand.

'We have the opportunity of taking on 25,000, 30,000, 35,000 bookings a day. We see the cash register ring pretty much every second somewhere in the world on our ships. And I know there might be a group seeking to hear that there's some type of break in the pattern, but there just isn't,' Liberty said.

Royal Caribbean customers, he continued, are booking further ahead and they're willing to pay more.

'So our pricing continues to increase into 2025 and 2026,' Liberty said, adding that's not just for entry-level cruises but also in the ultra-luxury segment.

20% value gap

How can that that be?

Liberty believes it's because of the 20% value gap between cruises and land vacations.

'Bang for your buck'

'You get a lot of bang for your buck when you're traveling with our brands,' the Royal Caribbean chief said. 'And I think that value gap is potentially shielding us from some of that noise you're hearing from land-based operators.'

Liberty added his company's pricing continues to accelerate whether measured by product, by market, by ticket or onboard purchases.