If you go to RoyalCaribbean.com, and then scroll to the bottom to locate “Our Company,” and select Environment, you can click on our updated 2009 Stewardship Report. Admittedly, August 2010 is a little late to publish the 2009 version of the report, but if you knew the work that went on behind the scenes to prepare this edition, you would understand. The work was prodigious.
In addition to expanding the coverage of the Environment, we have added sections on Safety, Security, Medical and Public Health. These critical areas of the business are the collective responsibility of all shipboard and shoreside management at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Nevertheless, I must point out that Gary Bald, our Senior VP for all of these areas, and his extremely capable team who work on this terrain 100% of their time, have put together this report and I commend Gary and his team for their work.
I don’t suggest you read the report cover to cover, as I did during one of my vacations this summer to the chagrin of my family. Go to the areas that are of most interest and check out the work we are doing. Our intention is to be transparent in our thinking, in our actions, and in our results. We are continuously working on initiatives behind the scenes, and there are many efforts underway that are not ready for specific mention in the report. Having said that, there are a remarkable number of initiatives that are highlighted in the report, and we aren’t aware of too many comparable reports in terms of comprehensiveness or detail.
Ever since I took on operations responsibilities in 1999, I have been struck by the significant amount of time I spend on subjects in these domains. Some elements of focus, such as our company-wide Save the Waves program, have been a core part of our corporate fabric for many years. More recently, we have created a Sustainability Council within management that is hosted by Dan Hanrahan and me together with Gary Bald and Jamie Sweeting, our VP of Environmental Stewardship. We have regular meetings with this council, including one last Friday. If some of the projects we discussed with the council come to fruition, we will have exciting things to talk about in future editions of the Stewardship Report.
I encourage you to take a look at the report and let us know what you think. Our goal is to continuously improve the report over time, which makes sense because continuous improvement in these areas is what it is all about. I hope you have the same reaction that one of our summer interns had after working in Jamie’s area this summer. She was truly impressed at the dedication of our people to do the right thing. Kudos to our professionals who are leading the way forward every day.
Believe it or not Adam, I read the whole thing. I think that sharing the report with RCL’s goals and accomplishments, environmental impacts & awareness, and a forward thinking team with a great attitude in terms of finding ways to always be ahead of the pack is a huge win for RCL on so many levels. Carbon Dioxide is a huge challenge. Being that big ship traveling in one of natures most delicate aquatic gifts must be met with compromise to ensure it wil still be around for years to come. I also found the Care Program a very nice thing and I really liked that RCL extends much to its staff while cruising because lets face it, its their home and work at the same time. I am one of those people that I cant have a good time nor would spend my money in any business that treats their staff poorly so its good to know that RCL treats their staff more like family and that makes me a happy cruiser. Keep up the great strides in innovation! Looks like RCL is keeping their eye on the prize!
Lisa, thank you so much for your feedback. We are pleased to hear that you read our Stewardship Report and that you are happy with our continuous environmental efforts. We pride ourselves in making sure our guests, Royal Caribbean employees, and the environment remain amongst our top priorities.
Adam-I have a sidebar comment unrelated to this particular blog and hope that perhaps you provide some feedback/suggestions:
We will be aboard Serenade on May 7th. My son, whom will begin Kindergarten this year, will be missing class while we vacation (and celebrating his big 6th Bday while aboard). We want to ensure that he not only has a great time, but has an educational experience as well. What came to mind, was maybe some way that RCL can provide a way to share some educational experiences while on board to take back to the kids-either I video some areas that we can see of the ships-what have you. We of course will video some of the excursions, but a BIG SHIP! Well..I think 5-6 yr olds might find that pretty darn spectacular. It would be great that RCL down the line have an educational spot that classrooms could log on to, to see the various aquatic experiences, but the ships themselves,the captain and what he does, the engineers, the people that help get the ships in to ports, how they load and unload goods, and of course the environment and how ships such as RCL fleet interact with mother nature.It just kind of got me thinking when I wanted to integrate my son’s fun in to educational experiences and share with his class. I realize that I might not be permitted to video portions of the ship nor would want to impede on staff or create a security issue. I am a federal employee so I do understand those areas of concerns. Just curious if RCL does things like this in reaching out to classrooms across the country. It would be an excellent PR move too! I can see it now “EDUCATION OF THE SEAS”. Thanks for your time in advance. I think I have used up my monthly blog priviledges
Lisa, our Adventure Oceans program offers a variety of educational activities. While onboard, your son can participate in scavenger hunts, hands-on science experiments, and more. Our Aquanauts program is for ages 3-5, but since your son will turn six while onboard, he can also partake in our Explorers program for ages 6-8. We look forward to seeing you and your family onboard in May 2011.
Royal Carribean changed my life! Cruising has become my favorite way to vacation. However, I am single and don’t feel that I should be charged a surcharge every time I cruise. Will RCI consider making a certain number of stateroom for singles at a single-occupancay rate?
Thank you for continuously choosing Royal Caribbean Lou. We’re glad to hear you enjoy cruising with us so much! At the moment all rates posted on our website are based on double occupancy, but we appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration.