Royal Caribbean has announced that the South Pacific island of Vanuatu will be the home of its next private island destination: Perfect Day at Lelepa, Vanuatu.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai, and Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said that the new destination will be created in partnership with the community of Vanuatu to showcase the natural beauty and local culture of the island nation, as well as provide employment and education opportunities. The new destination will also incorporate a number of new sustainability features designed to safeguard the island’s ecosystems, and it will also be the first carbon-neutral private cruise destination in the world, Royal Caribbean said. Cox Architecture, a sustainable, design-focused contemporary architectural firm based in Australia, will serve as the lead architect on the project.
Since last year, Royal Caribbean has been in the process of revamping and rebranding its private island destinations under the “Perfect Day” moniker. While the cruise line already owned private destinations at CocoCay in the Bahamas and Labadee, Haiti, the Perfect Day Island Collection marks the cruise line’s effort to expand its private destination offerings worldwide. At the time of the initial announcement, Bayley particularly noted that the company was looking at the Asia-Pacific region as a venue for expansion.
The first Perfect Day destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay, opened this spring following a $250 million renovation and update. During our visit to the island it won high marks from guests and travel agents for its wide selection of attractions, such as the Daredevil’s Tower water slide, although some noted that the experience was overwhelming enough that guests would be advised to plan their day in advance and to take a map.
Since its reintroduction, Perfect Day at CocoCay has proven popular enough for Royal Caribbean to cancel a shift by the Independence of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale to Southampton that had been planned for 2020; the cruise line said the demand for CocoCay was enough that it needed to keep the ship in Florida in order to keep sailing itineraries that called there. The cruise line also recently began offering itineraries with two CocoCay calls on Navigator of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas.
Regarding the new Perfect Day destination in Vanuatu, Bayley also said that it will have a “different look and feel” from Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Bahamas. Further details on exactly what’s planned are still to come.
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