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Overall Hospitality Beverage Program

A core initiative of this new program was updating Royal Caribbean ’ s beverage menu . It was revamped to be more in line with the brand , with bright colors and ontrend , hand-crafted drinks that better aligned with guests ’ favorite flavor profiles .

“ During the pause in cruise operation , the team took the opportunity to overhaul the beverage menu to be a true reflection of the Royal Caribbean International brand — celebratory , adventurous , memorable , thoughtful and for everyone ,” explains Ed Eiswirth , director of beverage operations for Royal Caribbean .

“ The result is a bright and vibrant colorful menu that presents on-trend , hand-crafted drinks that align with consumer-favorite flavor profiles . The collection of 27 cocktails is available across the fleet of 26 ships sailing in Asia Pacific , Europe , the Caribbean and North America .”

Eiswirth noted that this change was influenced by trends that arose during Covid . “ The pandemic caused supply chain issues for operators , while initiating a trend of ‘ revenge travel ’ amongst consumers .”

The new Royal Caribbean fleet beverage menu offers 27 distinct

The Taste of the Caribbean menu spread .

cocktails , down from 50 in 2019 . The team purposely curated the selection to reduce the number of SKUs , make products onboard work harder in the menu and deliver consistent , memorable cocktails with fresh ingredients delivered by more than 2,600 bartenders across the 26 ships , Eiswirth says . With fewer recipes to remember , bartenders achieved better recipe consistency , which led to increased ratings for the beverage offerings overall .

“ Realistically in the cruise industry , there is a captive market that is also passionate and vocal ,” says Eiswirth . “ The reimagined fleet beverage menu increased guest engagement with cocktails in the form of trials on board and increased chatter around specific cocktails on multiple Royal Caribbean fan pages .”

The menu focuses on four spreads that each , in turn highlight different ‘ drink moods ’ that customers can choose from . The initial spread , ‘ Taste of the Caribbean ,’ celebrates destinations guests have been visiting with Royal Caribbean for 50 plus years , says Eiswirth . Three additional spreads — ‘ Crisp and Refreshing ,’ ‘ Bold and Spirited ’ and ‘ Zero-Proof Cocktails ’ — introduce tropical flavors to familiar classic cocktails .

For example , Cozumel Sunset adds mango to a Tequila Sunrise , Caribbean Mule adds coconut to a traditional Mule . “ The unexpected twist to familiar favorites instills a sense of adventure in the beverages guests choose , both alcoholic and zero-proof drinks ,” he says .

Venue menu upgrades helped increase quality rating of drinks .

CORE CUSTOMERS AND EXPLORERS The cruise line also increased the amount of experiential guest activities by expanding the traffic-driving tasting events . For instance , the Women of Wine tasting event is “ an intense wine sampling event showcasing seven amazing women winemakers .” Guests are able to sample wines with a fully produced video , tasting mat and booklet .

The company has added more stops to its private Bahamas island destination with the “ Perfect Day at CocoCay .” Menu activations on CocoCay drive purchases at Beach Club , Coco Beach Club and Captain Jack ’ s venues . Royal Caribbean partnered up with local Bahamian brands , like Switcha beverage and Sands beer . They also partnered with Florida brewery , Funky Buddha , to promote Chilla Thrilla , the CocoCay exclusive island beer .

12 • BevX Issue 2022 www . cheersonline . com