NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
Royal revels in role as innovator of the seas
Travel Weekly hosted an executive lunch in partnership with Royal Caribbean International earlier this month. Harry Kemble reports
Royal Caribbean International has hailed the UK market following a successful wave period despite a sluggish start.
Royal admitted it had a slow
start to the wave period but claims January eventually turned out to be really strong. The line’s president and chief
executive, Michael Bayley, said: “The UK market is, was, and always will be massively important for us. It has always played a huge role in our success as a cruise line.”
Symphony launch
The strong start to the year comes ahead of the highly anticipated launch of Symphony of the Seas. The Oasis-class ship will sail a
pre-opening itinerary on March 31 – a five-day cruise out of Barcelona to Italy – ahead of its debut season in the Mediterranean. Earlier this month, Royal hosted
a Symphony of the Senses pop-up event in London, giving members of the public a taste of what can be expected on board, with tunnels reminiscent of the Ultimate Abyss slide, a ball-pit whirlpool and entertainment by a mariachi band. Royal has been able to add three sailings ahead of what had been planned to be its official maiden voyage, a departure on April 21 that is 93% sold. Bayley said: “Symphony of the
Seas is selling like hot cakes. Who is buying it? Well, everybody. We have people coming from Latin
America, China, Asia and the UK to Symphony in Barcelona. “People still say our Oasis-class
ships are too big but that has been proven wrong. We have no
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travelweekly.co.uk 15 February 2018
problem filling Oasis-class ships.” Ben Bouldin, Royal Caribbean’s associate vice-president and managing director for the UK and
Ireland, said the hype around Symphony had been helped by
the “reputation” of sister ship, Harmony of the Seas. “Harmony is a standalone business that would embarrass many others in its own right, such is its success,” he said.
Private destinations
Bayley also revealed Royal is to launch a private destinations concept, called Perfect Day, in March. This will offer a mix of “thrills and chills” on the line’s private islands, according to Bayley. He said: “Passengers want to
have an extremely crazy morning or afternoon where they are freaked out, shouting, screaming and laughing, before enjoying
their afternoon under the sun and taking a nap.” Bayley said the destinations
would be “random” and would extend beyond the Caribbean, where Royal Caribbean already operates its own private island CocoCay, hinting that Perfect Day stop-offs in Asia would be included. Bayley said the line was also
looking at adding an overnight option on its new private destina- tions for suite-class passengers. “As a concept it would make
sense,” he said. “It would probably be [for] suite-class customers, who could get off their ship, stay a few days and get on another ship. “We have toyed with the idea of building overnight cabanas.”
Fleet plans
Commenting on the possibility of selling vessels to rival lines, Bayley said: “We are happy to sell ships. We would sell some of our old ships now if someone has the money.” In 2016, Legend of the Seas
was sold to Thomson Cruises, now Marella Cruises, for an undisclosed sum. Bayley added: “Part of the
brand energy is the innovation. We want to have that quality, that kind of experience globally in the marketplace, so we can continue to be the number-one cruise line.” Asked if Royal would consider building smaller ships, Bayley said large vessels were the line’s model and a key driver to its success. He also said large vessels
differentiated the brand from sister lines, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.
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