Royal Beach Club Santorini will be opening its doors to guests in the Summer of 2026 and will be part of a new Royal Caribbean Group offer focusing on land-based destinations.
Earlier in 2025, the Royal Caribbean Group announced the upcoming opening of its first Royal Beach Club experience. While that first beach club is scheduled to open in The Bahamas in December 2026 and will be known as the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island in The Bahamas, other land-based openings are already in the making.
Perfect Day at CocoCay in The Bahamas, Labadee in Haiti, the Southernmost Hotel on Earth, The Cormorant at 55 South in Chile (2026), Royal Beach Club Cozumel in Mexico (2026), Perfect Day Mexico (2027), and Royal Beach Club Lelepa (2027) are all in the pipeline and will be expanding Royal Caribbean Group’s land-based offer. The next Royal Beach Club, however, is scheduled to open during the Summer of 2026 on the Greek island of Santorini.
“Expanding our Royal Beach Club Collection to include Santorini – one of the world’s most popular and beautiful locations – is a bold step forward in growing our vacation portfolio from two to eight by 2028, giving guests more ways to have unforgettable experiences with us. We’re thrilled to connect guests with Santorini’s gems – from its iconic villages to the Aegean Sea’s famous beach club culture – creating a balanced, authentic island experience”, said Jason Liberty, president and CEO at Royal Caribbean Group.
The Ultimate Santorini Day
Once open, the Royal Beach Club Santorini will welcome guests from both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. The beach club will be a part of the so-called Ultimate Santorini Day, during which guests will get to explore and get to know the island. Travellers will have the choice to start their day at the village of Oia, the capital city of Fira, or at the Royal Beach Club. According to the cruise company, this will allow them to alleviate congestion throughout the island by better distributing guests arriving in Santorini.
“Santorini is an incredible destination that our guests love to explore, and with this new beach club, we are able to bring the best of what the island has to offer with the signature service Royal Caribbean is known for”, stated Michael Bayley, president and CEO at Royal Caribbean.
To allow for the opening of the Royal Beach Club Santorini in the Summer of 2026, the Royal Caribbean Group will be renovating an already existing club on the island. That renovation will include “upgraded amenities thoughtfully designed to blend with the natural landscape and incorporate sustainable materials”.
The opening of the new beach club comes at a time when the Greek island is increasingly struggling with the consequences of overtourism. British consumer magazine Which? identified Santorini as one of the European destinations that suffer the most from overtourism, and the Bank of Greece recently declared that almost one in two Greeks could not afford a one-week holiday this summer. New initiatives, such as the introduction of a new cruise tax on Santorini during the peak season, are trying to turn the tide.
