Mexico blocks Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day in another blow for the cruise line’s private islands expansion

• Royal Caribbean has been promoting the $800 million development would deliver the world’s boldest vacations.
• Some countries have been pushing back against the private island trend by raising taxes and imposing tougher environmental controls.
• The cruise line’s planned Royal Beach Club on Lelepa island in Vanuatu is still working through its environmental impact statement as indigenous leaders raise concerns.

In its glossy press releases Royal Caribbean promised its $800 million mega-resort Perfect Day Mexico, would be bigger and bolder than anything it had done before. The cruise line shared artists’ renderings of the private cruise destination that would span more than 200 acres in Mahahual on Mexico’s Caribbean coast and include more than 30 brightly-coloured waterslides, a 9200 square-metre pool and 3km of sectioned-off white sandy beach.

Now the cruise line is heading back to the drawing board after Mexico environmental authority, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), announced it will not approve the Perfect Day Mahahual project.

“We are not going to approve Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day project,” said Alicia Bárcena, secretary of the environment and natural resources

Royal Caribbean said it was disappointed by SEMARNAT’s decision but would respect the role of Mexico’s environmental authorities. In a statement, the company said: “Mahahual is a special place that deserves care and protection. We continue to believe in Mexico, and are optimistic in the potential to advance our investment responsibly.”

The cruise line added it would re-engage stakeholders over the coming weeks to explore ways to move forward, citing potential environmental infrastructure, local job creation and community programs.

Royal Caribbean spent $411 million (US$292 million) buying the Port of Costa Maya and surrounding properties and the build was estimated to cost more than $800 million (US$600 million).

This latest blow to Royal Caribbean’s plan to grow its portfolio of exclusive destinations comes as opposition mounts against its plan for the Royal Beach club on the Vanuatu island of Lelepa.

A group claiming to be community leaders put together a letter which they sent to Royal Caribbean on February 26 questioning the assessments. Lelepa’s paramount chief and the highest-ranking customary leader on the island, Ruben Natamatewia III, told The Guardian: “There needs to be lots of consultation so every person here understands what they are doing and can approve the work to go ahead.”

On Monday May 18, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum hinted the project, touted to open in the second half of 2027, was about to hit rough water. She said SEMARNAT was conducting a very detailed analysis of the project, adding “but I can already tell you that we are not going to do anything that puts the ecological balance of that area at risk”.

Mahahual has a population of fewer than 3,000 people. It is known for its soft sand beaches, clear warm water and is popular with scuba divers drawn to the Mesoamerican Reef, the largest reef in the Western Hemisphere.

According to Reuters, Greenpeace warned that the region was at a “crucial juncture,” and that the project and its link to expanded cruise tourism could cause ​significant environmental consequences.

Public opposition also surged online. A Change.org petition demanding the project ​be halted, launched ⁠in July 2025, in recent days reached more than 4 million signatures.

The Mahahual decision lands against a backdrop of growing global pushback against the private cruise destinations with some claiming the economics keep money in the pockets of the cruise lines rather than in the hands of locals.

The Bahamas, which hosts private islands owned by Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney and MSC, has proposed targeted taxes on cruise lines’ private destinations, with its prime minister noting that premium cabana rentals at these resorts can fetch as much as $4,000 per day, with earnings flowing offshore and delivering limited benefit to local taxpayers.

Mexico had already moved to introduce a per-passenger cruise tax and Barcelona’s mayor wants to double the cruise passenger tourist tax.

Royal Caribbean’s portfolio of private and exclusive destinations now includes Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas, Labadee in Haiti, Royal Beach Club Paradise Island in Nassau (opened December 2025), Royal Beach Club Santorini opening summer 2026, and Royal Beach Club Cozumel in the pipeline. CocoCay alone underwent a $250 million transformation in 2019 and now spans more than 120 acres.