Royal Caribbean revealed what it has planned for its private destination push that is going to go well beyond what any cruise line has ever dreamed.
Royal Caribbean is poised to open four different projects over the next few years, each with its own way to give vacationers exactly what they want: an idyllic day in the sun, surf, and shore.
The developments crisscross the Caribbean, and even extend to the Pacific. It's all part of Royal Caribbean's master plan to offer the very best destinations that are second to none.
At an event in New York, the cruise line showcased what it has planned at each of its private beaches, along with opening dates and what we can expect.
Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island
- Opens: December 2025
- Capacity: 4,000 guests
- Paid, All-Inclusive
The first of these new beaches to open will be the Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island, located in Nassau, Bahamas.
Scheduled to open in December 2025, the Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island is an all-inclusive, beach club you'll need to pay to access.
It's like a super shore excursion that Royal Caribbean curates to cater to exactly what its passengers want: a high-end beach day experience with a focus on local authenticity and upscale amenities.
Royal Caribbean relied on extensive guest research and feedback to come up with the experience.
Guests will be transported via custom-built water taxis that depart from the port area, with two arrival points to make getting where you want to go easy.
Royal Caribbean says "bookings become available in just a few short weeks."
There are going to be three zones, each with a different approach to enjoy your time.
Chill Beach
You'll find both a pool and a beach here, and it's meant to be the most relaxing area of the club.
There is a long pool with a swim-up bar (in fact, every pool has a swim up bar within the club), and plenty of space to enjoy quiet, ambient Caribbean music.
Party Cove
Party Cove is going to be the spot to go to if you want a pool party vibe.
You'll find the world's largest swim-up bar, known as "the Floating Flamingo". It features a dedicated DJ area, and VIP “party wings.”
It's two stories with the DJ at the center of it at the top level. There's going to be integrated compressed air to elevate the party atmosphere.
The party wings allow guests to actually rent the entire wing for your group, similar to how you might rent a cabana elsewhere.
The pool is actually broken up into three areas, with the largest swim up bar having over 100 seats.
Family Beach
Catering to guests with kids, Family Beach will have a zero-entry pool and this is really the focus of this zone.
It's a long and shallow pool for families to enjoy together, but there's a swim-up bar here too.
This is also where you'll find the debut of the first-ever land-based Ultimate Family Cabana, which promises an over-the-top experience for families.
It has equal access to beach and pool, and the cabana is going to have just about everything you'd want for a splurged up kind of day.
Your own slide, dining area, lounge space, and more.
Partnership with The Bahamas
The operation will be run in partnership with Bahamian stakeholders (under a 51/49 joint venture), ensuring that the service and food authentically reflect local culture.
You'll find Bahamian art, architecture, and locally-sourced food seamlessly blending into the guest experience.
A strong emphasis is placed on sustainability through initiatives such as zero waste to landfill practices and advanced wastewater recycling systems.
Perfect Day Mexico
- Opens September 2027
- Included, with multiple premium upgrades available
Royal Caribbean's biggest land project ever will open with Perfect Day Mexico.
It's located in what's now Costa Maya, Mexico. When Royal Caribbean is done, the old Costa Maya and region will be uplifted and redeveloped with significant investment in the community and the amenities throughout.
The cruise line bought the port and surrounding land, and it's going to be an epic exclusive for Royal Caribbean passengers that builds upon the success they've had with Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas.
Admission is included in your cruise fare, but there are opportunities to spend on extras like cabanas, waterpark and excursions.
When passengers get off the ship, they have the choice of entering Perfect Day Mexico or walking to the nearby Transportation and Tourist Center to pick up a shore excursion or other form of travel out.
The first itineraries you can book that will feature a visit to Perfect Day Mexico will become available this fall.
There will be five key zones to explore:
Fiesta Plaza
This is where you'll enter Perfect Day Mexico, and it's decked out in bold, colorful Mexican décor, and acts as the social hub and introduction to the destination.
You'll notice quickly the world’s largest sombrero bar and vibrant street-style signage.
It's an engineering marvel, and started out as an idea to build the world's largest sombrero, but Royal Caribbean decided to turn it into a bar.
You can walk into Perfect Day Mexico on foot, or opt to take one of the trajineras, which are colorful, flat-bottomed boats that you'd find in the canals of Mexico City.
The river that runs through the entrance helps set the scene, and Royal Caribbean thought offering boat rides would be a really fun way to move people.
Chill Beach
This is the primary and quite large beach area guests that spans the shoreline. The entire area is almost 2 miles in length.
This is where you'll go for a beautiful and relaxing beach day, complete with lounge-friendly areas with palm-lined shorelines.
Guests can enjoy complimentary loungers, umbrellas and towels at all beaches and pools at Perfect Day Mexico.
Royal Caribbean will also offer cabanas to rent, including ones that have little plunge pools attached to them. There will be land cabanas, water cabanas, and plunge cabanas.
Costa Beach Club (extra cost)
Based on the Coco Beach Club, this will be the upscale beach club experience with elevated dining, exclusive pools, and luxury cabanas.
You'll find white sand beaches, a heated infinity pool, and dedicated restaurant.
There are cabanas to rent here as well, which come with a dedicated pool.
El Hideaway (extra cost)
The adults-only area is an inland pool zone with massive party pools, swim-up bars, and DJ entertainment.
Encompassing eight acres, it has a pool that is going to be 50,000ft², whereas the Hideaway Beach pool today is only 17,000ft².
Either side will have the "chill" zones, while the center will be all about the party atmosphere.
Fun fact: it will be home to the world's largest bottle of tequila!
You'll find here the Party Cabana, which can handle up to 20 people. It has its own dedicated bathroom, its own bar, and it'll have its own bartender.
Splash Cove
A new concept, Splash Cove is 30 acres in size. It has a pool that is a little over three times bigger than the Oasis Lagoon.
This entire neighborhood will be included in your cruise fare.
Surrounding the pool will be the world's longest lazy and crazy river.
The lazy river will be between a 45 and 60 minute journey, but it has multiple stops along the way where you can tie up your raft at a bar to take a "break".
There will be three of these bars, known as "Tubes and Tequila", and you'll clip your tube to the bar for a stop.
There will also be the largest Splashaway Bay for kids, along with more seating than you'd find at the CocoCay version.
Speaking of young kids, there will be a bubble up activity, which is describe as an experience that inflates with water jets coming off of it, and then it deflates and kids climb up it and fall down. It's a super fun young kid thing
Loco Waterpark (extra cost)
Spanning 15 acres, it's three times the size of Thrill Waterpark, and will have 31 slides across five towers.
One big theme is you'll find a lot of raft slides, as they resonate the most with Royal Caribbean's guests. There will still be drop slides or body slides, but many more raft slides.
You'll find the tallest water park in the Americas, eclipsing the one in Brazil that's at 160ft.
There's a Jaguar head tower (170ft tall), along with Sombrero Tower (100ft tall), and the launch tower
The launch tower has hydro launches and drop slides. These are the ones that fly you through the air and then drop you down.
Royal Caribbean has an idea to put a bar near the launch tower so guests can have a drink and watch people flying through the air and give them ratings, like an Olympic competition.
There's a wave pool that will be about twice the size of the one on CocoCay.
Dining in Perfect Day Mexico
Royal Caribbean will have 12 regionally inspired dining options throughout the resort. There will be sit-down restaurants, quick service entries, and almost all the food will be included in your cruise fare.
There are also 24 bars spread across Perfect Day Mexico, including six swim-up bars.
Royal Beach Club Cozumel
- Opens: December 2026
- Paid, All-Inclusive
The second beach club will be in Cozumel, and its focus is offering guests a day filled with fun centered around the pool, beach, sun, food and culture.
It'll be located where Playa Mia beach resort is currently, as Royal Caribbean will take it over. They've also acquired the properties on both sides of Playa Mia.
The last day of Playa Mia's operations is May 20th, and then construction will begin. Just like Costa Maya, Royal Caribbean will demolish everything that existed there before to introduce their own vision.
It's about a ten minute drive south from where Royal Caribbean docks its ships.
There are 5 main areas: Main pool, North Beach, The Mercato, South Village, and South Beach.
Just like the beach club in Nassau, Royal Caribbean wants it to offer three vibes: chill, family and party. It's a work in progress as to how they're going to achieve it here, but they have a few ideas.
As you arrive, you'll be surrounded by lush landscaping. As you walk in, you'll start to see the vibrancy of Mexico with art and amazing views ahead of you.
There will be a pool with a swim-up bar, along with a side that's toes in the sand that stretches over to the beach.
There'll be in water music experience, but it remains to be seen if it's a DJ or not.
At the Mercato, you'll find the central food experience. Royal Caribbean wants to offer a 50/50 blend of local inspired classics, as well as American food.
So you'll find tacos, fresh guacamole, fresh salsa, fresh tortillas, margaritas, quesadilla, tortas and churros. But you'll also have a chicken sandwich, burger, fries, etc.
Lelepa
- Opens: Early 2027
- Included
Located in Vanuatu, Royal Caribbean has its first private destination outside of North America with the Lelepa. This isn't a beach club, but not a Perfect Day either. It's a different kind of product that doesn't fit into the other destinations mold.
It's not very far from Port Vila, and Royal Caribbean has essentially leased the entire northern part of the island
Ships will tender here, as there will be no pier.
One key difference is Lelepa will have no thrill factor. Instead, they've doubled down on the chill, which is described as "gorgeous."
The team is taking the essence of the beach club product, but making it inclusive in the cruise fare.
There will be a number of villages to break up the layout of Lelepa:
- Welcome Village
- Beach villages
When you arrive, you'll see a local retail village and a welcome bar.
The private beach flanks both sides of the island, with a walkway in-between. Each side has beaches, restaurants, sports activities, and playgrounds.
They're also working on an adults-only area that doesn't cost extra. It's essentially a quieter, unmanaged area away from everything else for adults.
Something else being added are walking trails throughout the property, as part of a curated nature trail.
