SPECIAL REPORT on its inaugural European sailing. Robin Murray reports from on board


Bouldin: Second ex-UK ship is a question of when not if


R


oyal Caribbean’s Ben Bouldin said it was a matter of “when not if” the line bases two ships


in the UK, but there were currently “no plans” to do so. Speaking on board new vessel


Wonder of the Seas as it made its European debut, the operator’s vice- president for the EMEA region did not rule out the possibility of another ship departing from Southampton, joining Anthem of the Seas, which first started sailing from the port in 2021. “I absolutely want to have a


second ship in Southampton, and it’s a question of when rather than if, but there are no clear plans at the moment,” said Bouldin. “Our ex-UK marketplace is very


buoyant and Anthem continues to be incredibly popular with our guests. “We’re always looking for


opportunities to increase deployment, but there’s no firm decision yet.” Bouldin did not rule out the


The Boardwalk


possibility of Wonder of the Seas one day departing from the UK, but said the Oasis-class ship “performs better” in warmer climates.


Things are looking


good, but there are still bumps in the road. It’s two steps forward, one step back at the moment


“Interestingly, Wonder is set up


for it [UK sailing],” he added. “It was originally going to sail in China, so it’s got the climate-controlled solarium and the more sheltered 360 aqua-theatre at the back. “Those are two developments


designed to facilitate being in more variable climates, but generally speaking, the Oasis class performs better in hot weather as it has a lot of outdoor space; the challenge with the UK market is that you never know what [weather] you’re going to get.” He added he was “not ruling it


out” but there were currently “no plans” for it to happen. While Royal Caribbean has


enjoyed a strong recovery after a first-quarter loss, Bouldin warned there was “still work to do” before the


line returns to pre-pandemic levels of trading. “We’re in a situation where we


need to book as many passengers as we can,” he added. “Normally at this stage of the


year we’d be pretty much fully sold for our summer season, so we’ve got a bit more ground to make up on some ships and we’re prioritising our efforts on selling them. “Things are looking good but


there’s still work to do and there are still bumps in the road. It’s two steps forward, one step back at the moment.” Bouldin cited the rising cost of


living as an area of concern, because it “impacts people’s gung-ho nature to book a cruise and makes the pool of people smaller”. But, despite the hurdles, he was


optimistic about the future, and hoped 2023 could be a record year for the line. “I’m very confident,” he said. “For sure it’s going to take a little while for us to get back to our enviable position of 2019, which was our best-ever year, but we hope to bounce back and be in best-ever year territory in 2023.”


Line ‘exploring’ greener fuel options to reduce carbon footprint


Royal Caribbean is “exploring” alternative fuels to power its fleet in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. Silvia Garrigo, the line’s chief environmental, social


and governance (ESG) officer, said Royal was “studying greener options very carefully”, but hinted it was unlikely one would be adopted any time soon. Speaking on Wonder of the Seas as the ship embarked


on a two-day trade sailing, she said: “We are exploring many options. Solar tends to be less of a factor because of spacing on a ship, but in terms of biofuels, methane, hydrogen and all the other options, we are studying each of them very carefully.”


travelweekly.co.uk Garrigo added that each class of ship Royal Caribbean


has launched has been “20% more energy efficient than the one before [thanks to] technological advances”. Senior environmental analyst Elizabeth Hackley


said the line’s ‘green hub’ programme, which sees the crew recycle glass, plastics, aluminium, and other waste on board, was just one initiative it had put in place to become more environmentally conscious. “We [Royal Caribbean] now divert about 85% of


overall waste,” she added. “The programme started in 2010 with the aim of reaching zero landfill operations and we’re quite close to reaching that.”


12 MAY 2022


Central Park


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