Royal Caribbean has officially announced its new name, Royal Caribbean Group, about four months after it quietly dropped its former corporate identity.
The Richard Fain-led owner of 62 cruiseships had referred to itself as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd since 1985. In March, the New York-listed company started calling itself Royal Caribbean Group without mentioning the name change.
The new name started showing up as the company began fighting off negative impacts from Covid-19 disruption. Since then, the entire cruise sector has sustained losses in the billions as a result of the pandemic.
New York-listed Royal Caribbean Group acknowledged the new moniker on Thursday with a news release that also debuted a revised logo for the new corporate name only.
Logos for the brands under Royal Caribbean Group will stay the same, the company said.
"When a company is known for raising the bar on design and innovation, nothing is exempt from the mantra of continuous improvement — not even the company’s own name," Royal Caribbean said.
"That’s why Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd is now known by a new moniker: Royal Caribbean Group."
Ticker symbol will remain the same
Its shares will still trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RCL, as it has since the company went public in 1993. They declined 1.4% on Thursday to close at $50.30 but gained 0.6% to $50.60 in the first 90 minutes of after-hours trading.
“The name is simpler, fresher and more modern. It’s also more descriptive — Royal Caribbean Group sounds like a parent company name, reflective of our growth and evolution since we last updated our identity more than 20 years ago,” chairman and chief executive Richard Fain said.
Its brands include Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Silversea, Azamara, TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
The revised company logo was designed by New York-based branding and graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv.
"The company’s iconic crown and anchor emblem has been sharpened and made more symmetrical, and now resides inside a circle at all times," the company said.
