History
Royal Caribbean was founded in 1969 in Norway.[5][6] 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 with the creation of Celebrity Cruises subsidiary, Azamara Cruises, in 2007.[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' 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 cruise destination development company.[14] The company developed the Grand Lucayan Resort, located in Freeport.
On July 10, 2020, Royal Caribbean Cruises purchased the remaining shares of Silversea Cruises.[2] 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]
