Tony Talks Business
How Cruise Ships Make Money
Why is a four-night cruise cheaper than two nights in a hotel? Where does the money come from once you are on board? And why does the bill under your cabin door beat the fare?
This is how cruise lines actually make money, and why the ticket is the cheapest thing you buy all week.
The numbers in this video
109.7%How full Royal Caribbean's ships sailed in 2025. The industry counts every cabin as two beds, so extra guests push the number past 100.Source: Royal Caribbean Group 2025 results, PR Newswire
$5.4BWhat Royal Caribbean took in from onboard and other spending in 2025, on top of the fare. Almost one dollar in every three the company took in.Source: Royal Caribbean Group 2025 results, PR Newswire
$18.50Royal Caribbean's automatic tip, per person, per day. Every guest pays it, including children.Source: Cruzely
$600MWhat Celebration Key, Carnival's own private destination, cost. It opened in July 2025.Source: Carnival Cruise Line news site, 19 July 2025
$71MAbout what Carnival paid in income tax in 2019, on about $3 billion in profit. That is around 2%.Source: Cruise Radio
11.5%The interest rate on the $4 billion of bonds Carnival sold in April 2020, after its ships stopped sailing.Source: Cruise Industry News, April 2020
Every number has a source
Chapters
- 0:00The Card
- 1:34The Bill
- 3:05The Fare
- 4:16The Bunks
- 5:39The Wallet
- 7:01The Tips
- 9:13The Island
- 11:22The Port
- 13:03The Casino
- 14:29The Flag
- 16:23The Deposit
- 17:56The Pause
- 18:53The Debt
- 20:06The Verdict
What we left out
Claims we found and could not stand behind, so they are not in the video.
What percentage of a shore excursion's price the cruise line keeps. The video only says it keeps a share and gives no percentage.
Whether every store on a port shopping map pays to be there. The video only says stores often pay.
Sources
13 pages the figures in this video were read from.
