RCL's E-Commerce Penetration Surges: Will It Strengthen Yield Growth?

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL is seeing rapid expansion in the adoption of its digital commerce ecosystem, supported by a marked increase in platform usage and deeper integration across the guest journey. In the third quarter of 2025, the company delivered its strongest digital performance to date, with e-commerce visits and conversion rates rising at double-digit levels. Meanwhile, a record share of onboard revenues was booked pre-cruise, and nearly 90% of those purchases occurred through digital channels, underscoring a structural shift in guest behavior.

The company’s digital infrastructure now captures a significantly larger portion of guest interactions than in prior years. The Royal Caribbean app — originally launched as a tool to eliminate first-day bottlenecks — has evolved into a central platform for pre-sailing purchases, including shore excursions, dining and onboard activities. This early engagement provides clearer visibility into revenues ahead of departure and supports more efficient onboard operations. Management highlighted that the app is now the fastest-growing driver of engagement and conversion, reinforcing its expanding commercial relevance.

Much of this momentum is supported by Royal Caribbean’s broader technology investments, including ongoing enhancements to its digital channels and AI-enabled capabilities. These tools are increasingly embedded in forecasting, customer engagement and operational efficiency, strengthening the company’s ability to meet guest expectations and optimize its commercial flywheel. The rollout of Points Choice in early 2026 — which will allow guests to apply loyalty points to their preferred Royal Caribbean Group brand regardless of the brand they sail with — represents the next step in deepening cross-brand loyalty and expanding ecosystem participation.

Royal Caribbean also continues to benefit from growth across its key revenue drivers, including private destinations, new ships and diversified itineraries. As digital penetration rises and a larger share of spend shifts pre-cruise, the company is building a more data-rich and engagement-driven revenue base. While management did not explicitly tie digital adoption to yield growth, the record levels of pre-cruise monetization and higher conversion rates suggest a strengthening commercial backdrop that could support more consistent onboard revenue performance.

With rising digital activity, growing guest engagement and an expanding suite of technology-enabled tools, Royal Caribbean is demonstrating early signs of a more mature, scalable e-commerce platform — one positioned to play a meaningful role in its broader commercial strategy.

How It Stacks Up to Competitors

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH is advancing its digital engagement strategy through targeted platform enhancements and pre-cruise monetization tools. In the third quarter of 2025, management highlighted measurable improvements across its upgraded NCL website, stronger conversion patterns and expanded use of personalized pre-cruise offers. The company reported record pre-cruise sales, supported by refined merchandising and broader adoption of targeted promotions, but did not provide a digital penetration percentage comparable to Royal Caribbean’s near-90% digital mix. Norwegian Cruise’s approach remains centered on incremental optimization — site rebuilds, better content pathways, curated recommendations — rather than large-scale digital throughput metrics.

Carnival Corporation & plc CCL continues to emphasize early revenue capture through destination investments, loyalty initiatives and strong pre-cruise sales volumes. Carnival reported record customer deposits and sustained demand for onboard items booked ahead of sailing, supported by upcoming assets such as Celebration Key and a reimagined loyalty program launching in 2026. However, similar to Norwegian Cruise, Carnival did not disclose a digital pre-cruise booking ratio. Its strategy leans more on physical destination uplift, brand segmentation and loyalty modernization than on a high-intensity digital commerce model. The narrative points to solid pre-cruise momentum, but without the level of quantification provided by RCL.

RCL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Royal Caribbean have gained 6% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 1.1%.

RCL Six-Month Price Performance

From a valuation standpoint, RCL trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, below the industry’s average of 15.68X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL’s 2025 and 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year uptick of 32.5% and 14.5%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2025 have remained unchanged in the past 60 days.

RCL stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research