For Royal Caribbean Group CFO Naftali Holtz, the cruise company's commitment to delivering an excellent customer experience and shareholder returns begins with providing the operations team with the resources they need—and it all "starts with investment," he said in an interview with CFO Dive.

On Thursday, the Miami, Florida-based cruise and vacation company announced several long-term commitments to fleet and destination expansion alongside its fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results, according to a company announcement. These include an agreement with Chantiers de l'Atlantiqueto build two Discovery-class cruise ships—with options for four additional vessels—and a commitment by subsidiary Celebrity River Cruises to expand itsfleet capacity from 10 to 20 ships by 2031。

"This will be a great focus over the next few years to ensure we design the right experiences to attract more guests," Holtz said in an interview following the company's earnings call on Thursday. However, to satisfy cruise passengers and create shareholder value simultaneously, "we need to make sure we understand the cost of doing so. What opportunities do new ships present to enhance revenue and margins?"

Building resilience

For the full year 2026, Royal Caribbeanexpects capital expenditures of approximately $5 billion—"primarily related to the company's new ship order book," the company said in its results announcement for the quarter and full year ended December 31. Non-new-ship capital expenditures are expected to remain at approximately $1.8 billion, with a "significant portion" including previously announced private destinations under development, the company said.

As a result, capital allocation has been a "key focus area," Holtz said, noting that "while we have all these tremendous growth opportunities, our scale and cash flow levels now also lead us to examine how we can complement that growth with capital returns?"

In 2025, the company generated $6.5 billionin operating cash flowand returned $2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases, according to an earnings call transcript. As of December 31, Royal Caribbean's liquidity position was $7.2 billion, including cash and cash equivalents and undrawn revolving credit facilities, the company's Thursday results announcement showed.

Holtz joined Royal Caribbean Group in October 2019 as Senior Vice President of Finance, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and became CFO in January 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Royal Caribbean, he spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs, holding positions including Managing Director, Head of Lodging & Leisure Investment Banking, and Vice President (Real Estate, Gaming & Lodging Investment Banking).

This prudent focus on capital allocation is part of the cruise operator's ongoing post-pandemic drive to improve customer experience, revenue, and profitability. The pandemic hadbrought the entire cruise industry to a standstill—Royal Caribbean lostapproximately $13 billion。

between 2020 and 2022, according to a Motley Fool report. However, a surge in demand after travel restrictions were lifted helped the industry regain its balance, with Royal Caribbean paying down debt accumulated during the pandemic and returning to profitability, according to Motley Fool.

Additionally, younger generations are leading the trend: since 2019, Royal Caribbean's total guest count has grown 45%, with the number of millennials and younger guests nearly doubling, Holtz said. Combined with 2025 total revenue of $17.3 billion (up 64%) and net income nearly doubling to $4.3 billion, "that tells you we've built a more resilient, more profitable, and larger company," he said.

"This year our EBITDA will be close to $8 billion, which allows us to continue investing in innovation," he told CFO Dive.

AI personalization

Holtz expects customer demand to continue into 2026 and beyond, despite economic uncertainties—for example, Royal Caribbean is closely monitoring whether tariffs and other headwinds could impact customers, though it has not seen such an impact so far.

The company is also leveraging new technologies, including AI, to further improve the customer experience and enhance financial performance, such as through onboard revenue. Investment in this area began before the pandemic, "with the core idea being, how do we 'give back' the first day of the cruise to our customers and reduce friction?" Holtz said.

The company said Thursday that nearly half of 2025 onboard revenue was booked before embarkation, and approximately two-thirds of 2026 capacity has already been booked. Customers who pre-book such onboard experiences also tend to spend more than those who do not, he said.

AI can further help streamline these experiences by helping Royal Caribbean better understand and personalize these offerings. For example, if a cruise guest comes with children and wants a family vacation, "offering you a romantic dinner might not be the right choice," Holtz said. "Or if you're traveling with just your partner, recommending kids' activities or shore excursions might not be wise either."