Having a cocktail on a cruise ship is without doubt one of the most stereotypical cruise actions, however the cocktail decisions are evolving.
Royal Caribbean is at all times on the lookout for alternatives to enhance its choices, and with a shifting demographic of youthful cruisers happening ships, the menu decisions are being altered too.
A 2023 survey by Drizly of shopper ingesting tendencies discovered that People are opting increasingly more for non-alcoholic drinks, particularly amongst Gen Z cruisers.
“The need to attempt non-alcoholic (NA) drinks continues to climb with half of respondents having tried NA beer, wine or spirits. The NA class is sparking probably the most curiosity amongst Gen Z (23%) and millennials (24%) who’ve tried these drinks extra ceaselessly than different generations,” the survey stated in its findings.
The 2023 State of the Cruise Trade Report launched by the Cruise Strains Worldwide Affiliation (CLIA) revealed that passengers between the ages of 20 and 59 are actually making up over 50% of passengers onboard cruise ships.
This modification in shopper preferences is one thing Royal Caribbean has already jumped on with its newest drink menu updates.
Leaping on the development
Royal Caribbean Director of Beverage Operations, Ed Eiswirth, noticed this development rising as early as 2020.
When cruises restarted in 2021, Royal Caribbean overhauled its fleetwide drink menu and launched its first zero-proof drink menu.
His staff discovered was Gen Z and Gen X are extra interested by lower-ABV drinks than earlier generations.
“I came upon numerous analysis round sober-curious friends and particularly round Gen Z being tremendous curious. These are younger individuals who nonetheless drink alcohol, however they eat lots much less. They’ll exit at evening and purchase one very nice, handcrafted cocktail after which change to one thing that’s no-alcohol however that has simply as a lot care taken and is admittedly curated in addition to a cocktail.”
As well as, zero proof cocktails work for teenagers and tweens who need one thing past the same old assortment of drinks. For instance, you will note a Shirley Ginger on the menu, which is analogous to a Shirley Temple, however made with ginger to offer it extra sophistication.
Royal Caribbean occasion went so far as so as to add Gen Z programming on its cruise ships. The “Hyperlink” occasions are day by day occasions particularly for friends between the age of 18-25 years previous.
Zero proof cocktails
With the launch of Icon of the Seas in 2024, Royal Caribbean went past the usual menu to craft a drink menu solely for drinks that had no alcohol in them.
Royal Caribbean really constructed this menu to be extra household pleasant in its Surfside Neighborhood than for Gen Z, however it doubles for each functions.
To be clear, these aren’t virgin mocktails. Royal Caribbean wished its zero proof cocktails that work as standalone drinks.
“We actually took the time to curate them as standalone drinks with out alcohol and actually take a look at mixing flavors that work collectively versus a inventory virgin daiquiri that’s simply an alcoholic drink we’ve taken the alcohol out of. We didn’t even think about placing alcohol in these as we put them collectively,” Mr. Eisiwrth stated.
The Lemon Publish is a “household centric bar”, the place dad and mom and their youngsters can take pleasure in a drink collectively.
Alexandra Palmeri is Royal Caribbean’s Company Supervisor of Beverage Operations, and she helped design 13 new bar menus only for Icon.
“Whenever you begin with alcohol and also you begin to deconstruct it, it turns into much more difficult to create a non-alcoholic mocktail. So we began from the mocktail perspective after which constructed it constructed it up that approach,” Alex defined.
One other bar on Icon, Rye & Bean, additionally has two mixologist-created zero-proof drinks which can be distinctive to the venue.
Learn extra: 8 mocktails to attempt in your subsequent Royal Caribbean cruise
Drink gross sales are large enterprise
Providing passengers extra drink decisions is extra than simply preserving friends joyful. It additionally pads the cruise line’s backside line.
Onboard spending is the class of income Royal Caribbean makes when individuals purchase particular person drinks or the much more profitable drink packages.
Mr. Eiswirth stated over the course of a yr 44 million alcoholic beverage transactions are performed throughout the 26 ships within the fleet.
The Deluxe Beverage Bundle, which incorporates alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks, ranges between $60 and $110 per individual, per day. The Royal Refreshment Bundle solely contains non-alcoholic drinks, and prices $38 per individual, per day.
Learn extra: Royal Caribbean drink packages costs and information
When Royal Caribbean Group experiences its quarterly earnings to Wall Avenue, they usually tout onboard spending by friends as one of many prime the reason why earnings are larger.