Royal Caribbean2026 – nowMiami, Florida
My DECA research on what happens to a family's Royal Caribbean loyalty when the kids turn 18, and a way to carry it forward instead.
Role Solo researcher and designer
Overview
Seaforward is my solo project for DECA's Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research event. It looks at Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society: families build years of history together, and that history stops counting the day a child turns 18. I'm surveying cruising families, interviewing people on both sides, and designing a family layer for the program.
| Event | DECA Hospitality and Tourism Operations Research |
|---|---|
| Subject | Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor Society |
| Team | Just me |
| Since | May 2026 |
| Status | Survey open until Nov 8; paper due Dec 2026in progress |
The problem
Kids grow up cruising on their parents' loyalty status, lose it at 18, and can't book a cabin alone until 21.
In Crown & Anchor, a family can share one loyalty tier, so a kid who's sailed every summer can hold Diamond status without earning it. At 18 that link ends, and until 21 they can't hold a cabin on their own. I call it the 18 to 21 gap. The program even lets an adult travel companion share a member's tier after ten sailings together, but not a dependent child.
How it works today
- A child's points come from the nights they've sailed.
- At 18 they leave the family relationship and keep only their own tier.
- Until 21, they can't book a cabin on their own.
What I'm designing
- The Family Line: a record of every generation's cruises that never resets.
- The Passage: a bridge from 18 to 21, with a heads-up before the birthday.
- The Legacy: a parent passing one perk a year to their adult child.
A family's journey
Drag the slider to age the kid and see how their status changes.
Shares the family's tier
A child's Cruise Points are their own, earned from the nights they sail, but they can share the family's tier through a loyalty relationship.
How early does a child start to feel part of the program?
Research so far
78 cruising families have answered so far, plus interviews with Royal Caribbean and with families.
What most affects a young adult's first cruise without their parents
Share of people who ranked in their top 3, of 77 who ranked. Survey still open; these are the 78 qualified answers as of October 17, 2026.
Who I've talked to
- Grace Cerrate, Royal Caribbean's Director of Global Guest Experience, who reached out for the company's executive office. May 2026.
- Mikael Olmedo, Senior Manager of Loyalty at Royal Caribbean, on how Crown & Anchor works. June 2026.
- Families: a young adult who grew up cruising and a Diamond Plus parent, kept anonymous. October 2026.
What stood out: young adults said the hard part of cruising on their own is cost and finding people to meet on board, not losing status. And a parent and a Royal Caribbean chat agent both believed kids keep the family tier after 18. The published terms say they don't, and 15% of the survey had been told the same thing.
I posted the survey on the Royal Caribbean Blog forum, saying up front that I'm a student with no tie to the company. The thread · numbers as of October 17, 2026.
What's next
Met Grace Cerrate, Royal Caribbean's Director of Global Guest Experience.
Talked through Crown & Anchor with Mikael Olmedo from their loyalty team.
Survey live, family interviews started.
Survey closes.
The paper, then competing with it at DECA.
still to add
- Final survey results (after Nov 8)
- The finished paper
