Royal Caribbean Saying Goodbye to Ben and Jerry’s

Say goodbye to enjoying Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia while sailing through the ocean. Today, Royal Caribbean sent an email to their travel partners that they will be discontinuing their partnership with Ben and Jerry’s. That means all the Ben and Jerry’s counters and retail fronts will be removed from Royal Caribbeans ship by the end of the year. 

Thirteen ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet had branded Ben and Jerry’s experiences. Some ships had full retail fronts, and others had small counters. While free soft serve was still available on the pool deck, these venues would serve official Ben and Jerry’s flavors for an extra cost that ranged from $2.50 to $5.00. 

What will replace Ben and Jerry’s?

Royal Caribbean indicated they’d be replacing the Ben and Jerry’s stores with their own branded experience experience. While they didn’t give more details, guests aboard the Independence of the Seas shared pictures of the store with a new menu branded as “Sugar Beach”. Sugar Beach is the candy/ice cream shop found on the Oasis-class Royal Caribbean ships. 

Why is Ben and Jerry’s going away?

Royal Caribbean hasn’t commented on why Ben and Jerry’s will no longer be on their ships, but it’s likely a cost-cutting measure. Typically, cruise lines must pay licensing fees to host popular shore brands on their ships. Over the years, Royal Caribbean has been moving away from these licensed experiences. They stopped putting Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Jamie’s Italian, on their newer ships in favor of their own Giovanni’s Kitchen, and the new Icon-class ships no longer have Johnny Rockets. 

It also gives Royal Caribbean a chance to adjust pricing. Pricing for Sugar Beach on Oasis of the Seas was 20 – 44% higher than Ben and Jerry’s on Liberty of the Seas this June.