Royal Caribbean’s venture in Vanuatu has been switched from a PerfectDay private island to its Beach Resort brand, and has a prospective open date of 2027.
At one point PerfectDay at CocoCay, a private island in the Bahamas, was to be the model. It’s by far Royal Caribbean’s most popular cruise destination, and when Lelepa was announced in 2022, it was expected to include a PerfectDay experience.
Now, the Beach Resort brand – features on land activities available to the entire ship’s guests, and will include cultural and food experiences. there will also be cultural experiences on the ship.
News regarding the new private island resort has been thin on the ground, however, Royal Caribbean recently removed all mentions of PerfectDay at Lelepa from its website. A Royal Caribbean source confirmed that the PerfectDay project won’t proceed, but rather a beach club.
So, what’s the difference?
Essentially, PerfectDay at Coco is a huge development, with its waterparks, zip-lines, a helium balloon experience, six restaurants, and venues like Hideaway Beach, Coco Beach Club, Oasis Lagoon, and more.
While Royal Caribbean won’t be adding a PerfectDay experience like this to Lelepa, it will instead use the beautiful Pacific Island as the latest destination for its growing brand of beach clubs.
As Royal Caribbean currently invests in destinations like Nassau and Cozumel, the Asia-Pacific region won’t be left out, with Lelepa to get its own Royal Caribbean private beach club, set to open in 2026 or 2027.
While without an official announcement not everything is known yet, we can look at the beach club properties in Nassau and Cozumel to get an idea of what’s to come.
The Nassau Beach Club will stretch across 17 acres, with three pools, live music, multiple beaches, and four restaurants. Royal Caribbean hinted to Cruise Passenger that the club at Lelepa will have a cultural focus, with cultural activities potentially offered not just on-shore, but potentially on the ship as well.
However, with PerfectDay at CocaCay, cruisers can visit for free, and pay for extras as they choose, the club at Nassau is an extra cost. There is no indication as to how this will be managed at Lelepa.
What impact could this have on cruising in Australia?
For Aussie cruise faithful, many believed that the private island resort at Lelepa would mean Royal Caribbean would begin to cruise year-round in Australia. While this was only ever speculation, it makes sense, as PerfectDay at CocoCay runs year-round.
It remains to be seen as to whether the beach club installment at Lelepa could lead to year-round cruising from Royal Caribbean, but it appears less likely than if it was a fully fitted-out PerfectDay destination.
PerfectDay at CocoCay is also visited regularly by Royal Caribbean’s biggest ships, such as Icon of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas. A PerfectDay destination near Australia could attract better and bigger ships to Australia, but it again remains to be seen if this will be the case after the latest developments.
However, it should be noted that this is not necessarily a reflection of Royal Caribbean reducing its willingness to invest in the region. It is believed that there are some difficulties in negotiations with the locals, which could be the reason for the downsizing of the project, rather than it being any indication that Royal Caribbean is withdrawing its plans for the region.
Cruisers across Australia will be eagerly awaiting news on what the new beach club will entail, when we can expect to see it, and what other plans Royal Caribbean has to grow cruising in Australia.
