The free dividend tracker to help you grow your wealth. Link your brokerage accounts and MerryDiv automatically syncs your holdings and dividends.
Data last updated: Aug 31, 2026
Snapshot (as of Aug 31, 2026): Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) pays a $5.00 annual dividend ($1.50 quarterly), yielding 1.79% at $279.41/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-06-03. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 1.79%
Annual Dividend: $5.00 per share
Payout Ratio: 13.4%
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-06-03
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Consumer Cyclical
Years of Dividend History: 29
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. dividend currently yields 1.79%, backed by a fleet of 61 vessels operating across brands including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. RCL pays dividends quarterly, with a trailing annual rate of $5.00 per share and the next ex-dividend date set for June 3, 2026. At a beta of 1.779, this is a high-volatility stock in the Consumer Cyclical sector, which means the share price swings sharply with broader market sentiment. Growth-focused income investors are the natural fit here, not those seeking a steady, high-yield payout.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. pays out 13.4% of earnings as dividends, a payout ratio classified as conservative (below 40%). That low retention of earnings relative to the dividend means the current payment level has substantial room before earnings pressure would force a cut. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. dividend safety is supported by that wide earnings cushion, though the company operates in Consumer Cyclical travel services, a sector where demand, and therefore earnings, can drop sharply during economic downturns. The dividend history already shows one significant interruption, which is the most data-supported risk factor for income investors to weigh.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. dividend history shows a CAGR of 8.6% per year from 2002 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $0.52 to $3.50 over that span (2026 is a partial year and excluded from the growth calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 68.2% in 2013, though the history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, which reflects the cyclical nature of the cruise business.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +5.7% | $2.96 (2019) | $3.50 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +10.1% | $2.16 (2017) | $3.50 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +23.0% | $0.44 (2012) | $3.50 (2025) |
RCL fits growth-and-income investors who want dividend expansion over time and can tolerate a low current yield in exchange for it. The yield sits at low (below 2%), which limits immediate income, but the 8.6% annualized growth rate from 2002 to 2025 shows the dividend has scaled meaningfully over time. The 13.4% payout ratio leaves room for further increases, but the two-year consecutive increase streak is short, and the history includes at least one cut. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. stock carries a beta of 1.779, so price volatility is part of the package. The trade-off is clear: dividend growth potential, offset by cyclical risk and a yield that does not compete on income alone.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-03 | $1.5000 |
| 2026-03-06 | $1.5000 |
| 2025-12-26 | $1.0000 |
| 2025-09-25 | $1.0000 |
| 2025-06-04 | $0.7500 |
| 2025-03-07 | $0.7500 |
| 2024-12-27 | $0.5500 |
| 2024-09-20 | $0.4000 |
| 2020-03-05 | $0.7800 |
| 2019-12-19 | $0.7800 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $3.0000 |
| 2025 | $3.5000 |
| 2024 | $0.9500 |
| 2020 | $0.7800 |
| 2019 | $2.9600 |
Project income from RCL with the RCL dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.