New ships are appealing to wider audiences, helping cruise business to bounce back The vibes across the five pools on Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas range from upbeat to low key. Photo: sbw-photo Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas A launch party on Utopia of the Seas Cruise holidays are as popular as they've ever been, and one surprising reason is rising interest from a fickle group that's historically shunned the ships: young travellers. Look at Royal Caribbean, where half of the company's passengers are Millennials or Generation Z, according to Chief Executive Officer Jason Liberty, and the fastest growing portion of its customer base.
Other cruise lines are seeing similar youthful growth, with the average age of cruise passengers falling for two straight years after being largely stagnant since at least 2016, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). "Even honeymooners have been asking about cruises," said Eric Hrubant of CIRE Travel, a US travel agency whose cruise business has quadrupled in the last two years. "If you would've said that 10 years ago, I would've said you're on crack.
" The biggest beneficiary has been Royal Caribbean, which emerged from the pandemic quicker than its peers and launched two of the largest cruise ships ever built. Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas Its stock price has soared almost 600pc since hitting a Covid low in March 2020, while Carnival Corp. is up 88pc and Norwegian Cruise Line has gained 142pc over th.