The development of our global interests, even in difficult economic times, is key to our future. As a result, my most significant travel is to countries where cruise markets and/or ship deployments are very promising but in a less developed state. Often that means China, Singapore, Australia, Brazil or even Dubai where I visited last week and am pictured here with a representative from Abu Dhabi. I like to say that our guests and crew come from everywhere and our ships go everywhere. This is more obvious with each passing year. Royal Caribbean International is already a truly global brand with even more global opportunity ahead whenever the worldwide recession abates.
There is never an issue generating media interest when I visit one of these countries. The reputation of our brand and the features of our ships are compelling to journalists and consumers the world over. As we get closer to the delivery of Oasis of the Seas, interest in our brand is reaching a feverish pitch.
Governments usually focus their interest on whether our ships will be based in their largest ports and whether the ships will bring in foreign visitors to spend money in their countries. It’s usually an interesting dialogue because while we are very happy to attract guests from far away to cruise on any of our itineraries, we are often primarily interested in growing the local source market. So typically we attempt to impress upon our hosts that the win – win proposition is to do both simultaneously.
As a result of traveling to these countries and interacting with the media, one of my roles in the industry is to be vocal about the need for interested ports to build modern facilities that can properly handle the size of ships we want to bring. Someone reading the last sentence might think that a statement of the obvious. Yet throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, I find myself risking controversy in calling for appropriate investments by port authorities to support the cruise industry. I expect to continue playing this role.
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I’m a share holder who is certainly happy to see the company grow!
Any plans waiting to be acted upon when Cuba is opened to US citizens? A new port is always fun, even though my husband and I love just cruising. Now there’s a thought !!!
Barbara, thank you for your comment. While we agree that Cuba would be an attractive destination for Royal Caribbean we have not moved forward with any plans regarding visits to the country. If the US travel restrictions to the island would ever change we would definitely look at the possibility.
I too would love to make a stop in Cuba. I hope you’ve got your traveling shoes ready to make that happen Adam.
I am a diamond member and love Royal Carribean. I am disappointed to see that diamond memebers do not have a “happy hour” as of 9-19-09 and get free mixed drinks and a conciere service. That is definaly one of the reasons that we keep going back to Royal Carribean. It is a shame that you are taking this great service away from your loyal guests, who have already had a chance to expereince this.
When are the future cruise vouchers going to be sent for the cruisers that couldn’t go to Mexico due to the Swine Flu mess? Can you please make it possible that the vouchers are for any future cruise and not just for a Mexican cruise?
Hi Elke. Thank you for your question. You should receive your cruise voucher within six to eight weeks from your date of sailing. Since your initial booking was for a Mexican Riviera cruise we want to make sure you can experience this fantastic itinerary. Therefore the vouchers are good towards this itinerary.
Very disappointed in my recent cruise from Cape Liberty in New Jersey. I did not mind that the dinner portions were smaller or that we had no midnight buffet a couple of nights before the end of the cruise where the chef and his staff dazzle with cheese carvings, fruit carvings etc in the main dining room. But I was very upset that our stay in San Juan Puerto Rico was only for a few hours in the morning. We docked at 10:00PM Wednesday night and Thursday morning we had to be back on the ship by 11:00AM or we would have been stranded there. All we could do was walk into town for maybe an hour, couldn’t shop in any of the better stores because they open at 10:00AM and the lines were tremendous so I did not want to take a chance and miss the ship. Couldn’t see the beaches on our own because by the time we would have gotten to one we would have to leave. I have been emailing your corporate office for some type of compensation but they keep on insisting that in the fine print it does state that Royal Caribbean can make changes. Nevertheless I am very disappointed and will probably never cruise with you again.
I love seeing details on RCI’s new ships. But is the Oasis of the Seas as narrow as what is listed on the SHIP FACTS on RC.com? The Max. Beam is listed as 154′ which is 30′ less than the Freedom ships and slightly less than the Voyager ships. It appears that the pools on the upper deck would have to be very small if this were true. Surely this is a mistake. Could you give us the accurate dimensions of the Oasis of the Seas if you have time?
Thanks for having this BLOG opportunity!
Bringing new ports and new itineraries on-line is something important to long-time customers, as there are only so many times you (well, at least I) can go to Nassau from Miami or Fort Lauderdale.
Ports like Dubai are great because the destination offers a wide range of potential pre and post-cruise opportunities for guests (perhaps a cruisetour including a ground tour of the Emirates and Oman.) The destination is really popular with Europeans, but is farr less well-known to North Americans. While I have heard that the economic problems that face us have also affected the UAE, I have to think that projects like Dubailand, malls with ski slopes, the opportunity to do some dune bashing and unique dining experiences like the Burj al Arab or the dinner at Bab Al Shams resort are basics that can attract customers. Certainly air service has improved to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the years I’ve been going there for business. It all comes down to value for the customer, I suppose. Can you provide a product that generates the Wow! within an overall cost (including air transport) that represents good value. I should think that the opportunities to partner with providers of services there and in other potential ports represents an opportunity to generate both the value and the Wow!
The question of locally generated passenger business — probably considering the GCC countries as the drawing area — is an interesting problem given the range of requirements, from prayer times to halal food that can be make-or-break factors. I don’t doubt that your team can come up with solutions, but as a shareholder and Diamond C&A member, I recognize this to be a challenge.
Hope you and your family are enjoying the holiday weekend. We’ll be aboard Enchantment for the July 4th holiday, and are looking forward to it.
I am booked for a 13 day cruisetour package June 19th on the Radiance of the Seas. This will be our 3rd cruise in 11 months. But I was very disappointed in the food and the service on the Grandeur
on my January 15, 2009 cruise. This was the 3rd time on Grandeur and we always have love the ship. The staff this time was very rude
and the food was below Royal Caribbeans standards. We were with a group of 87 for a wedding. We have always raved about Royal Caribbean and were embaressed that we raved to the first time cruisers. My cruise on the Explorer in July, 2008 was wonderful like my other Royal Caribbean cruises. I do hope my cruise is not a disappointment in June. Sincerely, Bernadette Clark
My husband and I plus another couple will be traveling on the Freedom of Seas on October 18, 2009. We will be traveling out of Columbus, Ohio and found that the flight from Columbus to Port Canaveral was e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y HIGH!! It is cost us per couple $1,040 round trip. We have decided NOT to use RC for our flight but was wondering if you could give us some information as to why RC charges so much more for flights. It is nice to go through RC as you are pretty much guaranteed to get there in time, but at this rate of $1000 plus that is just a little bit ridiculous. We also have cruised many, many other times and normaly October is a lower price season to cruise, but found this particular ship (Freedom) is rather high for this period of time. Any particular reason why? Would appreciate any information you could provide on why the cost of flying and this particular ship is so high for October. Thanks very much.
We were on one of the cruises that couldn’t go to Mexico due to the Swine Flu. We were promised an onboard ship credit of $350 per stateroom, and future cruise voucher of $350 per PERSON for a future Mexico cruise. WHen we got the voucher for the future cruise, it was only $350 per stateroom, not per PERSON as promised. I had several different agents tell me this, the first one who gave me the options of whether or not to stay on the cruise, then the second when I called back with my decision, then the third when I called back to confirm our traveling companions’ reservation. I called to ask customer service about the mistake, and was basically told, “sorry, there’s nothing we can do about it now”. Needless to say, we are very disappointed in this lack of integrity and honesty, and the indifference we were greeted with upon my complaint to customer service regarding this error. I guess it was fine to say whatever was necessary to keep us on the cruise. Maybe it was my my fault for believing you.