Cruise giant Royal Caribbean Group is buying a 50% stake in Sandals and Beaches Resorts for roughly $3 billion, forming a joint venture that pairs the Caribbean's best-known all-inclusive resort operator with the world's largest cruise brands. The deal, announced this week, values Sandals at about 10x forward EBITDA and is expected to close in early 2027, pending approvals. Royal Caribbean has lined up debt financing from Morgan Stanley to fund it.
What this actually means: two family-run Caribbean success stories are joining forces. Sandals, founded by the late Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, and its family-friendly sister brand Beaches have spent more than four decades defining the all-inclusive resort model across the Caribbean. Royal Caribbean Group — which runs Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea, plus a fast-growing river cruise business and a string of private island destinations — gets a ready-made entry into land-based resorts, a category it has never owned until now. Both companies put the move in the context of the roughly $2 trillion global vacation market.
Adam Stewart stays on as Executive Chairman, and he and Royal Caribbean CEO Jason Liberty will share leadership of the venture's board. Both stressed continuity: existing bookings, loyalty programmes and day-to-day resort and cruise operations are unaffected. The stated ambition is faster resort expansion, wider distribution, and eventually an easier way for guests to book and combine resort stays, cruises and private-destination days across both portfolios.
For holidaymakers, the near-term picture is simple: nothing changes yet. Book that Sandals honeymoon or that Celebrity sailing as normal. The interesting part is what comes next. Royal Caribbean's Crown & Anchor loyalty scheme is one of the most powerful in cruising, and its private destinations like Perfect Day have reshaped Caribbean itineraries. If loyalty perks, cruise-plus-resort bundles, or one-stop Caribbean bookings emerge from this, it could genuinely change how people plan a Caribbean trip — one brand covering your ship, your beach resort and your day ashore.
It's also a vote of confidence in the Caribbean itself. Sandals and Beaches operate properties in Jamaica, Antigua, Saint Lucia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Curaçao and Turks and Caicos, and the deal's explicit purpose is to accelerate growth there, with jobs for local communities flagged heavily by both leaders. Watch for new resort openings and deeper cruise-resort integration from 2027 onwards. If you're loyal to either brand, this is one corporate merger worth keeping an eye on.
