Royal_Caribbean_Group

Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group

Cruise line based in Germany

This article is about the holding company that owns several cruise lines. For its subsidiary cruise line, see Royal Caribbean International.

Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a cruise holding company based in Miami, Florida, United States and incorporated in Liberia. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation & plc. As of March 2024, Royal Caribbean Group fully owns three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises[3] with 65 ships in the current fleet and 5 ships on order until 2028.[4] They also hold a 50% stake in TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.[5][6]

Quick Facts Formerly, Company type ...

History

Royal Caribbean Group was formed as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 1997 when Royal Caribbean Cruise Line purchased Celebrity Cruises. The decision was made to keep the two cruise line brands separate following the merger; as a result Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was re-branded Royal Caribbean International and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was established as the new parent company of both Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises.[7]

A third brand under Royal Caribbean Cruises ownership was formed in 2000 when Island Cruises was created as a joint venture with First Choice Holidays. Island Cruises became an informal cruise line on the British and Brazilian markets.[8]

In November 2006, Royal Caribbean Cruises purchased Pullmantur Cruises based in Madrid, Spain. From there, the company expanded rapidly with the creation of Azamara Cruises in May 2007 as a subsidiary of Celebrity Cruises.[9] It followed this with the formation of CDF Croisières de France in May 2008 to serve the French-language market.[10]

Royal Caribbean also has an interest in TUI Cruises, a joint venture with TUI AG,[11] which began operations in 2009 aimed at a German-speaking market. TUI Cruises's subsidiary, TUI Travel, had a 50% interest in Island Cruises following their merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007.[12] In October 2008, Royal Caribbean Cruises rationalized their holdings by selling their share of Island Cruises to TUI.[13]

In early 2019, Royal Caribbean announced in a joint venture with ITM Group the formation of Holistica, a company that intends to develop cruise destinations.[14] The only known destination that the company is to develop is the Grand Lucayan Resort, located in Freeport after the hotel campus was sold to newly formed subsidiary by the Bahamian Government.

On July 10, 2020, Royal Caribbean Cruises purchased the remaining shares of Silversea Cruises.[3] That same month, it also changed its name to Royal Caribbean Group.[15][16] It also adjusted its logo.[17][18] Royal Caribbean sold Azamara Cruises to Sycamore Partners in March 2021 for $201 million.[19]

In July 2022, Royal Caribbean Group received court approval to purchase Endeavor, a former Crystal Cruise ship, for $275 million. The ship was renamed Silver Endeavour when it officially joins the Royal Caribbean's subsidiary, Silversea Cruises' fleet.[20][21]

On February 1, 2024, Royal Caribbean Group broke ground on a new headquarters building between its two existing headquarters buildings at PortMiami.[22] The company's new 10-story headquarters building will have about 380,000 square feet of interior space and includes on-site amenities such as "green spaces, gyms, and dry cleaning".[22] The company will also update its existing headquarters buildings and add a multi-story parking garage.[22]

Subsidiaries

Royal Caribbean International

Main article: Royal Caribbean International

Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997.

Based in Miami, Florida, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passenger counts. As of 2025, Royal Caribbean International controlled 27.0% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 24.8% by revenue.[23]

As of August 2024, the line operates 28 ships; four additional ships are on order and two ships are planned but do not have a launch date.

Celebrity Cruises

Main article: Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida,[24] and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997.[25][26][27]

Silversea Cruises

Main article: Silversea Cruises

Silversea Cruises is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Monaco. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud.[28] Since July 2020, it has been owned by Royal Caribbean Group.

Other significant investments

TUI Cruises

Main article: TUI Cruises

Holistica Destinations

Holistica Destinations was formed in early 2019 as a joint venture between Royal Caribbean Group and the ITM Group with the intention of purchasing the Grand Lucayan Resort and re-developing the neighbouring Freeport Harbour in The Bahamas as a cruise destinations that would benefit the local Freeport economy.[29] However, the Government of the Bahamas withdrew support for the re-development of the Grand Lucayan Resort citing that it was 'not in the best interests of the Bahamian people'.[30] Holistica continues to plan for a Freeport Harbour re-development.[31]

Holistica also operates three other popular cruise destinations in the Caribbean. These are Costa Maya in Mexico, Roatan in Honduras, and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.[32]

Grand Bahama Shipyard

Grand Bahama Shipyard is a ship maintenance facility located in Freeport, the Bahamas. Royal Caribbean Group holds a 40% stake. Other investors include Carnival Corporation (40% stake) and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (20% stake).[33] Ans MSC.[34]

Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation announced a joint investment of $350 million in the shipyard in 2021, partly in response to damage suffered to the facility after an incident involving the collapse of two cranes during maintenance on Oasis of the Seas and damages caused by Hurricane Dorian, both occurring in 2019.[35]

iCON Infrastructure partnership

Royal Caribbean Group and iCON Infrastructure entered a partnership in 2022 to own, manage, and develop strategic cruise port infrastructure in home ports and key ports of call.[36] The partnership includes Royal Caribbean International-operated Terminal A in PortMiami, as well as several development projects in Spain, Italy, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Royal Caribbean Group holds a 10% stake.[37]

Wamos Air

Wamos Air (formerly Pullmantur Air)[citation needed] is a wet-leasing and charter airline headquartered in Madrid, Spain. Royal Caribbean Group holds a 19% stake.

Strategic partnership with Meyer Turku and Finland

In December 2022, Royal Caribbean announced a strategic partnership with Meyer Turku and the government of Finland to chart the way forward for innovative and sustainable shipbuilding in Finland.[38][39]

Former brands

References

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    "2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 14 February 2025.
  2. [2]
    "Proxy Statement". Retrieved 2 June 2022.
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    "Royal Caribbean Group Acquires Remaining Interest in Silversea". www.rclinvestor.com. Miami, Florida: Royal Caribbean Group. PRNewswire. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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    "Complete List: All Ships Set to Enter Service for the Royal Caribbean Group - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".
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    "Investor Relations Overview". Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
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    Newman, Doug (30 April 2008). "Celebrity Galaxy to Be TUI Cruises' First Ship". At Sea with Doug Newman. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
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    Plowman, Peter (2006). The Chandris Liners and Celebrity Cruises. Rosenberg Publishing. p. 219. ISBN 1-877058-47-5.
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    Cruise Business Review: Royal Caribbean starts new cruise line dedicated to French market Archived 2008-03-19 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 14. 10. 2007
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    "TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announce joint venture to serve German cruise market". Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd. Press Release. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
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    "Tui Travel plc Begins Trading on the London Stock Exchange" (PDF). TUI Travel PLC press release. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
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    "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to Sell Its Interest in Island Cruises to First Choice Holidays Ltd". Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. 6 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
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    "Holistica". Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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    Kalosh, Anne (9 July 2020). "Have you noticed? It's now Royal Caribbean Group". seatrade-cruise.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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    Jibilian, Isabella. "Royal Caribbean Cruises has officially changed its name after quietly dropping the word 'cruises' and tweaking its logo". Business Insider. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
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    Sloan, Gene. "Surprise! Royal Caribbean Cruises just changed its name, without telling anyone". The Points Guy UK. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
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    Chang, Brittany. "Royal Caribbean has sold its Azamara brand including 4 ships for $201 million as the company continues to push back 2021 sail dates". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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    "Royal Caribbean Acquires Crystal Endeavor Ship for Silversea Fleet". TravelPulse. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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    Kumaresan, Shivani. "Royal Caribbean Receives Court Approval To Acquire Cruise Ship Endeavor". Benzinga. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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    Moore, Cortney Danielle (1 February 2024). "Royal Caribbean breaks ground on new office campus at PortMiami". South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
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    "2025 Worldwide Cruise Line Market Share". Cruise Market Watch. Cruise Market Watch. Retrieved 10 May 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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    "Contact Us." Celebrity Cruises. Retrieved on 20 January 2010.
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    "Chandris to Launch Chandris Celebrity Cruises". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. 17 April 1989. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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    Maritime Matters: Sun Vista, retrieved 29. 11. 2007 Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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    Ulrich, Kurt. (1997). Monarchs of the sea : the great ocean liner. London: Taurus Parke Books. p. 177. ISBN 1-86064-373-6.
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    Hutcheon, Helen (3 November 2013). "The fab four". The Australian. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
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    "Royal Caribbean CEO hints at future plans for Freeport, Bahamas resort purchase". 27 May 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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    "Royal Caribbean plan to buy Grand Lucayan Resort Freeport canceled". 23 December 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
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    "$350m investment for Grand Bahama Shipyard". 22 June 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  36. [36]
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  37. [37]
    "Royal Caribbean Group Forms a Strategic Partnership with iCON Infrastructure to Launch New Chapter of Destination Development" (Press release). 19 December 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  38. [38]
    "Royal Caribbean Group Announces Strategic Agreement with Meyer Turku Oy, Finnish Government | Royal Caribbean Group Press Center".
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    "Royal Caribbean Announces Strategic Agreement with Meyer Turku, Finnish Government - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".
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