Royal Caribbean Invests $3B in Caribbean’s Sandals and Beaches Resorts
Royal Caribbean Group, which is one of the largest operators and highest-valued companies in the cruise industry, confirmed the rumors that it is investing in the land-based chain, Sandals, located in the Caribbean. The Financial Times broke the news on Tuesday, with Royal Caribbean and Sandals confirming on Wednesday a $3 billion investment from Royal Caribbean for a 50 percent interest in a joint venture with the hotel company.
Sandals, which was established in 1981, is a privately-owned operator with 17 resorts under its brand name, as well as three family resorts. The company was developed as a luxury, adults-only concept, and today has locations in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, Curacao, and the Turks & Caicos. It started the family resort brand Beaches in 1997 and has locations in Jamaica and Turks & Caicos.
The company’s core concept is luxury, all-inclusive resorts, launched by developer Gordon “Butch” Stewart. The deal values the company at $6 billion and reports that the son of the founder, Adam Stewart, will maintain his leadership role as Executive Chairman and serve on a board under the shared leadership of Stewart and Royal Caribbean Chairman & CEO, Jason Liberty. The transaction is expected to close in 2027.
“The companies will explore opportunities to broaden distribution, deepen guest engagement, and make it easier for travelers to discover vacation experiences offered across both portfolios,” the companies said in announcing the agreement. They are highlighting new opportunities for continued resort growth while saying it would broaden experiences across Royal Caribbean Group’s vacation platform.
The companies are highlighting plans to accelerate expansion of the Sandals and Beaches brands while Royal Caribbean says it expands into an adjacent vacation category. Speaking with the travel agent publication Travel Weekly, the two executives spoke of the opportunities to connect loyalty programs. It might also provide destinations that could be promoted to cruise passengers, and in time Royal Caribbean might use some of the resort locations to add to the cruise line’s developing portfolio of private beach clubs at its cruise destinations.
While a global company, Royal Caribbean continues to derive the majority of its revenue from North America and has a large presence in the Caribbean. Today it operates the contemporary brand, Royal Caribbean, premium brand, Celebrity Cruises, and luxury brand Silversea Cruises, and is a joint venture partner with TUI Group in Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
The company rebounded strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year lowered its growth forecasts, citing uncertainties in the U.S. economy and slowing demand in its European cruises. Analysts have also speculated that the Caribbean sector will be facing overcapacity due to the rapid construction of giant new cruise ships, which is being led by Royal Caribbean.
The cruise line was started in the late 1960s by a U.S. entrepreneur with the backing of Norwegian shipping companies. It has made two large acquisitions, buying Celebrity Cruises from the Chandris family and New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group in 1997, and more recently, in 2018, buying the majority interest in luxury cruise line Silversea Cruises from Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. The company currently has 71 cruise ships in service with approximately 175,000 berths and 13 ships on order representing 43,230 berths for delivery between 2027 and 2032. Included in that is its expansion into river cruising under the Celebrity Cruises brand.
The Financial Times reports Sandals has been for sale several times, including initially being offered in 2019 as part of estate planning for founder Stewart. It was not sold, and Stewart died in 2021, starting a legal battle among his heirs. Sandals restarted the sale process in 2025 when it retained investment bankers.
It is not the first time the cruise industry has turned to hotels. In the 1980s, Carnival acquired the Cable Beach Resort in the Bahamas and developed it into the Crystal Palace Hotel and Casino in Nassau, Bahamas. Despite attempts at cross-selling and running packages from the cruise ships, it was a money loser sold in 1994. Several hotel brands tried investments in the early days of the modern cruise industry, and recently luxury hotel brands, including Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Accor/Orient Express, and Aman, have launched ultra-luxury cruise ships as a brand extension.
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Investors are skeptical of the news of the investment by Royal Caribbean, with the stock losing as much as 12 percent of its value off yesterday’s peak. While the stock recovered during the day, it was still down three percent for the day, and it is now off 20 percent since the start of 2026.
Analysts said the executives were highlighting the strong cross-over potential while saying the customer bases were aligned. They pointed to “potential synergies,” saying the challenge and opportunities would come in the execution of the joint venture.
