Longtime Chairman Stepping Down at Royal Caribbean Group
A top management change is on the horizon at Royal Caribbean Group, as longtime chairman of the board Richard Fain, considered a pioneering visionary across the cruise industry, is due to step down from the post in late 2025.
Fain has held the top executive position since 1988, overseeing the Royal Caribbean brand and paving the way for the group to acquire Celebrity Cruises in 1997 and Silversea Cruises in 2020.
The company also holds a 50% stake in a joint venture that owns TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. All together, the five brands operate 67 cruise ships across the globe.
Fain will remain a member of the board of directors. Replacing him as chairman will be Jason Liberty, who has served as Royal Caribbean Group’s president and CEO since January 3, 2022.
While Fain’s leadership greatly expanded Royal Caribbean Group’s brands and scope of operations during the past three-plus decades, perhaps his greatest achievements lie in the innovative vision he had for the cruise vacation product.
It was under Fain’s management, for instance, that the industry-defining Oasis and Icon classes of ships were envisioned, designed, and launched for the Royal Caribbean brand, as was the Edge class that has elevated the Celebrity Cruises’ product.
“It is time to hand the wheel to the next generation of exceptional talent at RCG, and I am very confident that under Jason’s strong leadership, the Royal Caribbean Group will accelerate to even greater heights in the years ahead,” said Richard Fain, longtime chairman of Royal Caribbean Group.
Liberty, who was named group president and CEO in 2022, will step into the chairman’s role sometime during the fourth quarter of 2025, the company’s June 6, 2025 announcement stated.
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“Richard’s leadership has been nothing short of transformative. Under his leadership, the Royal Caribbean Group has become the leading vacation company – with industry leading brands, ships, destinations and people,” said Jason Liberty, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.
“I am honored and humbled to have been elected as Chairman and CEO and I look forward to continuing to create and deliver the ultimate vacation experience for our guests and delivering elevated long-term value for our shareholders,” Liberty added.
Liberty, who joined Royal Caribbean Group in 2005, previously worked in roles including executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Looking Back at Executive’s Major Accomplishments
By the time Richard Fain relinquishes his role as chairman of the board at Royal Caribbean Group in late 2025, he will have presided over the debut of Royal Caribbean’s second Icon-class ship, Star of the Seas.
The 5,600-guest ship, sister to Icon of the Seas, which launched in 2024, is set to enter service in August 2025. It will be the last new-build introduction during Fain’s chairmanship. Star of the Seas is nearly completed and will be christened at Port Canaveral in a gala ceremony with music icon Diana Ross serving as godmother.
Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class, a six-ship series that began with Oasis of the Seas in 2009 and continues to grow, is arguably the industry’s most innovative creation.
It introduced, for example, the notion of themed neighborhoods onboard cruise ships and represented the largest cruise ships ever built, at 226,838 gross tons.
The newest in the class is Utopia of the Seas, which entered service in 2024.
Today, the brand’s Icon class represents the industry’s largest ships, at 248,663 gross tons and able to accommodate 7,600 guests with all berths occupied.
Some of the themed neighborhoods from Oasis class are also featured on Icon class ships, such as Central Park and Royal Promenade, while new ones have been added.
Under Fain’s leadership, Celebrity Cruises launched the first of four Edge-class ships in 2018, and since the 2020 acquisition of luxury line Silversea Cruises, the parent group has facilitated four new ships for the fleet, including three new-builds and one purchase.