Hard Rock International, Seminole Gaming, Royal Caribbean International, and Celebrity Cruises are joining forces in a global partnership deal that will let travelers take advantage of perks and discounts across all four of the powerhouse brands.As part of the massive deal, millions of customers who are members of each brands’ loyalty and casino rewards programs will now have access to “reciprocal benefits.” The loyalty programs include Unity by Hard Rock, Royal Caribbean’s Club Royale, and Celebrity Cruises’ Blue Chip Club. Moving forward, members of all of the programs will earn reciprocal benefits anytime they play, stay, dine, or shop at participating Hard Rock locations or sail on any Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ships.“We see this as a marriage made in heaven,” Jeff Hook, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Seminole Hard Rock Support Services, told TravelPulse during a recent interview."If you’re customer of Hard Rock, now you don’t just have benefits with Hard Rock, you also have benefits with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. And conversely if you're a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity member, you now have benefits with Hard Rock.”
Royal Caribbean's family-friendly private island is about to get more crowded with Gen Xers
12.04.2024 - 09:03 / insider.com / Michael Bayley / Patrick Scholes
Royal Caribbean's family-friendly private island is about to get a bit more crowded — with Gen Xers.
On April 21, Gen X-beloved Celebrity Cruises will voyage to Royal Caribbean International's Perfect Day at CocoCay for the first time, marking the start of a Celebrity-CocoCay bonanza: The premium cruise line plans to visit the family-friendly getaway 47 more times before the end of the year.
According to Celebrity, these itineraries will both double its year-round Caribbean offerings and launch its first weekend cruises. And travelers are hyped: A handful of these sailings are halfway or close to selling out.
Fares start at about $277 per person for a three-day roundtrip cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which the Caribbean island is the only destination on the itinerary.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity share the same parent company, Royal Caribbean Group.
For the most part, that's where their similarities end.
Royal Caribbean's private island is a tropical dream for cruising families dotted with sprawling beaches, clubs, a zipline, and a waterpark. The private destination is colorful, loud, kid-friendly, and generally the antithesis of what travelers might find on Celebrity's ships.
Celebrity's stylish vessels do offer children and teen programming. But if you want the exciting water slides, fun rides, and rock climbing walls of the popular mass-market ships, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Compared to Royal Caribbean's ships, Celebrity is best if you want to be on a premium, trendy, and more subdued cruise.
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If it's not obvious, the two brands are vying for different guests. Royal Caribbean goes after multi-generational families, while Celebrity's target demographic is Gen Xers, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the then-CEO of Celebrity Cruises, told Business Insider in 2021.
In short, cruisers love Celebrity's upcoming Caribbean destination.
Last year, Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, told analysts that CocoCay had seen robust demand, including from repeat travelers.
About two-thirds of Royal Caribbean's Caribbean-bound guests will stop at CocoCay this year. And most of them aren't complaining: "The vast majority of people love the islands," Patrick Scholes, a lodging and leisure research analyst at Truist Securities, told Business Insider in March.
But for the two brands' parent company, there are more benefits to private island cruising besides guest satisfaction.
CocoCay is one night's sailing from Florida's major cruise ports, reducing the visiting ships' fuel consumption and costs.
More importantly, these private destinations keep more profits in-house.
A day pass to CocoCay's waterpark can exceed $100 per person. Entry to the recently opened
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