Last year was exceptional for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Revenues reached a record figure of 8.78 billion dollars (+ 3.3%), while the operating profit was 1.7 billions of dollars (+ 18.1%) and net profit 1.62 billion dollars (26.6%). This is the best performance for the cruise colossus that manages the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Tui Cruises and SkySea Cruise Line joint ventures. The results reflect the golden moment of the cruise industry on a global level with the demand that continues its rise in almost all markets. With 42 cruise ships, Royal Caribbean Ltd. hosted almost 5.8 million passengers in 2017 (+ 0.2% compared to 2016), while cruise days per passenger were around 40 million with a decrease of 0.5%. To share their profits the company decided to reward their 66,000 employees with a total amount of $80 million in a form of a bonus program named Thank You, Thank You Bonus.

Who will receive the Thank You, Thank You Bonus?

An informative leaflet was distributed among the crew members and shoreside employees signed by Larry Pimentel, President and CEO of Azamara Club Cruises; Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises; Michael Bayley. President and of Royal Caribbean International, and Richard D. Fain, Chairman & CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, explaining how the bonus will be distributed among the crew members. This means that not only Royal Caribbean Cruises crew members will receive this bonus, but also the crew working for Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

The value of the award will be 5% of your salary as of December 31, 2017. For shipboard employees, this includes overtime and gratuities paid thru the payroll system. It does not include overtime for shoreside employees.

Awards are prorated depending on your service during the Double-Double period of 2015, 2016, 2017. For example, if you joined half-way through, you will receive half the Thank You, Thank You Bonus.

How the Thank You, Thank You Bonus will be distributed?

The management decided to distribute the Bonus in the form of a "Stock Unit Award." It might have been simpler to just give hand out cash. However, the management thinks there's value in having you see the company as a shareholder - this way, you will benefit from the company's success. Also, RCI wants to give everyone an incentive to stay with the cruise line.

When will the Bonus distribution star?

The award will vest over three years starting December 15, 2018, provided you continue working with Royal Caribbean. The value of the stock award will hopefully rise over the next three years as our success continues. Meaning that you need to be part of the company in the next three years in order to receive the full bonus award. This program is in addition to your normal, agreed upon compensation. The Thank You, Thank You Bonus does not replace or impact any other salary or bonus you would otherwise receive.

All employees will receive an email containing more details about the program and what the Thank You, Thank You Bonus means for you personally. Questions? After that personal email is circulated, you may send questions to the HQ and the staff will try to answer your questions within two business days.

“Reaching goals is hard, especially when the goals are tough to reach, Our performance over the past three years goes back directly to your magnificent performance, day in and day out, for 1,096 days in a row.” says the Royal Caribbean statement

As far as we know this is the first time a Cruise Line distributes bonuses in form of a "Stock Unit Award" among all shipboard employees, and we truly hope that other cruise lines will follow this example.