by Eric Bowman
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Thu August 21, 2025
Growth is the name of the game for Royal Caribbean. From growing in size, as seen with the Icon Class ships setting world records, to the growth of travel advisors selling the brand, the cruise company continues to focus on rising upward.
We caught up with Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean International's senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support and Service, while onboard the brand new Star of the Seas cruise ship recently to discuss the cruise line＊s latest offerings and its future ahead.
※It's growing market for sure,§ Freed said. ※As our industry, our [cruise] segment continues to grow, there's more opportunities, and when there are more opportunities, people say, this is not a stale industry, this is a very vibrant industry to want to get into. It has great career growth. So, I do believe that all these new ships, not just the Royal Caribbean brand, but new ships in general become very alluring to the person that's thinking about making this a profession.§
Expanding the Portfolio
One major shift Royal Caribbean has made in recent years is the shift to calling itself a vacation company.
※We like to look at our brand as that we deliver a vacation of a lifetime, and I think whether you're going on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or Silversea, we do offer a vacation of a lifetime 每 people come back with incredible memories and experiences,§ Freed said. ※But now we want to take it a step further and we want to offer a lifetime of vacations. And so that's our goal is over the next several years, you're going to see us really expanding our portfolio, whether it's getting into river cruising or other types of vacation packages. We want to keep the consumer feeling ＆If I go with Royal Caribbean, it's going to be a brand that knows how I like to be treated, it's going to be a brand that is always focused in on quality of the experience at an affordable price that gives me great value.＊ That's where the next steps will be in our future.§?
Royal Caribbean＊s Vicki Freed (right) poses with travel advisors. (Photo Credit: Sara Perez Webber)
The future will be jampacked with a plethora of new offerings for Royal Caribbean. Coming up, not only does Royal Caribbean have multiple new ships being built and designed, during a fireside chat onboard Star of the Seas last week, Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty mentioned they have 100 port projects in the works.
The most anticipated one is probably Perfect Day Mexico, which is slated to open in 2027. Additional expansion plans include Royal Beach Clubs in The Bahamas (December 2025), Cozumel, Mexico (2026), and the South Pacific (2027).
※If you liked Perfect Day CocoCay, that's the intro to Perfect Day Mexico, which is going to be much larger with so many more bells and whistles, and it will be able to accommodate up to four ships in a day,§ said Freed.
Perfect Day Mexico will feature the tallest waterslide in North America and the longest lazy river, which will take guests 56 minutes to complete if they choose to stay on it the whole time.
Bookings for the new private island destination will likely open about nine months before the official Perfect Day Mexico opening day.
On the topic of river cruising, Freed expressed excitement for the sister brand Celebrity Cruises＊ expansion into the market, but didn＊t rule out the idea of a Royal Caribbean river cruise experience for families.
※Well, we never say never, so we don't know. But even Celebrity does have a family market. So, it's smaller, of course than Royal Caribbean. So, I think for now, when we introduce river, Celebrity will get some people with their families.§
The New Reservation System
Speaking of bookings, Royal Caribbean plans to change the process up a bit with the launch of a new reservation system.
※The new reservation system is called Royal X, at least that's our working name right now,§ Freed said.
※If I had to say the one thing that we want, it's easy. We want it easy. We want it easy for the consumer if they're booking online. We want it easy for the travel partner.
It's a different system [right now]. Our systems are not able to do it all in one easy step. Now in the new system, you'll be able to drag the room that you want. ＆This is the room I want. These are the names, and I want to add a cabana and perfect day at CocoCay. And I want to drag in specialty dining and I want to have this, and it's my birthday, so I want room decorations.＊ So, it's going to just be easy.§
Freed said this new system would likely be rolling out to Silversea first in 2026, followed by Celebrity, and possibly not until 2027 for Royal Caribbean.
Targeting the Disney Clientele
In addition to media onboard the Star of the Seas preview cruise, Royal Caribbean also brought on numerous travel advisor partners to experience the brand-new ship. Many of these agencies, such as Travelmation and MEI Travel, have massive Disney sales.
When I asked Freed about this approach, she didn＊t shy away from why they are here.
※?We love them,§ said Freed. ※You know why? Because they're very comfortable selling a higher price point. They know how to help guide the consumer and navigate the consumer's experience. And so, for us, they are really some of the top, top advisors out there because they're very comfortable in saying ＆you want to go to the castle and have your little daughter dress up as a princess? Well, that's going be like $600, but let me tell you the memories that you're going to see and the smiles on her face.＊§
While Royal Caribbean isn＊t yet able to track if guests are pairing Disney vacations prior to boarding their cruise, it＊s something they＊re thinking about.
※To tell you the truth, I really don't know if somebody's doing a four-night Utopia and a three-night land at Disney. We don't really have that packaging perfected yet, but that's part of a vacation of a lifetime 每 we will have that piece tighter.§?
Advice to Advisors
As we turn the corner to gear up for the final quarter of 2025, Freed offered her advice to travel advisors on closing out the year strong.
※?I think that people have to figure out, well, what do I want, Free said. ※What do I want my business a year from now to look like?
※?If I'm a travel advisor today, I'm focusing on keeping the clients I currently have, because unfortunately in our industry, clients cheat on their travel advisors. They do. So three out of five people who book a cruise today from one travel advisor will book their next cruise from either another travel advisor or direct, or through some other means online.
※?And when you ask the consumer, why did you switch travel advisors? Their answer is 每 first of all, when I ask this question to travel advisors, you know what they say? Oh, it's because of price. It's never about the price. It's always about they forgot who their travel advisor was. ?So it's really important that travel advisors stay in touch with their clients.§
Freed went on to further discuss the importance of connecting with clients, encouraging advisors to pick up the phone and talk to clients.
※?Email is a not the way to build a relationship. It is a form of communication, but it is a monologue, whereas a phone conversation, even a text, is more of a dialogue and it. ?What travel advisors fail to do, because we all get busy in our everyday life and we sometimes we feel it's awkward or odd to call someone. ?We want to call your existing clients so that they don't cheat on you.§
Want to hear more of Vicki Freed＊s advice and be in the know on Royal Caribbean? She recommends tuning into her monthly coffee talk webinars. They＊re held on Wednesdays at noon eastern time. Follow her on Facebook here for more updates.
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