Labadee & CoCoCay

Discussing Haiti with President Clinton

We don’t normally allow anything to interfere with our board meeting. But the 1st day of our meeting in New York took place on the same day President Clinton asked me to participate on a Haiti panel during the Clinton Global Initiative annual conference across town. The timing worked out for me to squeeze in the panel which you can watch by clicking on the following link: http://www.livestream.com/cgi_plenary/video?clipId=pla_48410238-f7f0-406b-9339-c85e3b4364eb .

I would like to express my appreciation for the consistent support President Clinton has demonstrated towards Royal Caribbean and to me personally for our involvement in Haiti, both before and after the earthquake.

Maryse Kedar, President of our Haitian subsidiary, was also on the panel on behalf of NGOs active in Haiti. She is one of the most remarkable people I have known in my career, a real treasure for us and for her country.

One way or another, Haiti must find funding to activate the Citadelle master site plan, but it isn’t happening. Thank goodness the school we are building at Labadee is on our property and with our money so nothing can get in its way. It will open next month but the Citadelle situation is frustrating.

Moving backwards in time, the week before the board meeting I was in Washington DC for visits with a variety of people inside the beltway. With the election looming, most of the talk was about whether the Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives. I will not prognosticate about that, but I will offer two observations about Washington based upon visiting several times each year on top of the fact that my concentration in the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton was in Government of a Democracy:

- First, from the perspective of someone who works 1,000 miles away, it’s comical to observe how obsessed people inside the beltway are with life inside the beltway. Some of them must believe that life goes on because of them, while most of the rest of us believe that life goes on in spite of them.

- Second, the trend towards partisanship, especially in Congress, is not just a function of people having stronger opinions these days. A fraying of the social fibers that used to hold the political community together regardless of party affiliation exacerbates it. Elected officials feel much more pressure to be in their home districts these days, and often confine their time on Capitol Hill to the minimum hours possible. Their families used to move to Washington when they were elected but now the families remain in the home districts and some Congressmen live in their offices during the week. I can see the Congressmen from South Florida just by taking the early Tuesday flight from Miami to Washington or the Thursday afternoon flight back. The result is that elected officials of the rival parties literally don’t know each other. A close personal friend who is a Congressman says the people who work out together in the House gym in the morning never attack each other personally because they know each other as (sweating) people.

BY:Adam|5th October, 2010 No Comments

My Haiti, Child Welfare, & Energy Security Efforts

My other involvements are as dynamic as ever. I’m not talking about the Phillies’ quest for a third straight National League pennant or the young Eagles’ aspiration to soar. I’m talking about Haiti, Child Welfare and Energy Security.

As many readers know, I am intensely interested in the Citadelle becoming a serious tourist attraction on the north coast of Haiti. We expect to be the “launch customer” with our guests at Labadee. John Weis did Haiti a great service by spearheading the development plan. With adequate funding, it should not take more than a few months for the Citadelle to receive visits. There is a reconstruction commission that should be making funding decisions for projects, such as the Citadelle, and there is some indication the process is unfolding. There is a risk that Haiti election politics will distract, or even overwhelm, the reconstruction decision making. I recently received an invitation to participate on a panel about Haiti, at the Clinton Global Initiative in September and I am looking forward to it.

Child welfare isn’t easy. The progress Our Kids has made in Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys is reflected in the metrics and in the kudos our staff is receiving from many quarters. We are excelling in adoptions, highly recognized for getting medical and dental care for children, and for the technology that supports our caseworkers as they visit the children.

Unfortunately, there is a major controversy surrounding funding for the young adults who have “aged out” of the foster care system at age 18. Many of these young adults are eligible for support known as “Independent Living (IL)” or the “Road to Independence.” Whatever the moniker, this is a problem area. Children who have had every advantage in life would likely struggle under the conditions these young adults encounter as they try to master life skills, pursue their education, and hold down one or more jobs. It’s not surprising IL kids face elevated risk of homelessness and crime. The controversy emanates from the Florida Legislature’s decision not to fully fund the IL program for this fiscal year. From Our Kids’ point of view, we cannot take monies that were appropriated for children less than 18 years of age and move them to support the young adults over 18. While the Legislature’s action appears to and may be insensitive, it is forcing a discussion about the substance of the IL program which is beset by many issues besides the funding level. It’s hard to see any easy way out of this issue.

Finally, in the world of energy security, there is growing momentum for the electrification of road transport. Congress did not take action before the recess; therefore, action may not occur before the November election. There is mounting evidence that endangered species - bipartisan support, could be sighted in this context as it passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 19-4. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid included electrification in his slimmed down energy bill and the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was one of the three areas in which he believed he could find agreement with the President and Democrats.

The Energy Security Leadership Council, to which I belong, continues to work behind the scenes to convey to the Legislative and Executive Branches that a meaningful U.S. commitment to electric vehicles would benefit the environment, our national security, and the economy. Of course, the environmental impact would depend on what energy sources are powering the electric vehicles (it should be noted that filling an electric car from electricity from a coal fired power plant is still better from an emission standpoint than a current internal combustion engine). Because there are so many potential energy sources for the grid, it is reasonable to expect that over time the role of fossil fuels would reduce and alternative energy sources would grow. Some would say electric cars are the only vehicles that will get cleaner as they get older!

BY:Adam|20th September, 2010 6 Comments

Guest Post- An Interesting Week in Ops and a Sneak Peek!

It’s been a very interesting week. I just returned from an Anchored in Excellence (AIE) visit to Monarch of the Seas. We joined the ship in Nassau and sailed back to Port Canaveral. I have to say that I was truly impressed with the teamwork and spirit onboard. I was also very happy to see the strong focus on crew satisfaction. The Monarch Executive Committee has been putting a lot of focus on revitalizing the crew areas, including an updated gym, new food stations and the crew outdoor deck areas.

I had forgotten that we had used Monarch to test the Izumi concept for Oasis. We had a dinner with the executive committee at Izumi and all cooked our own dinners with the hot rocks. It was a good reminder of how we always test concepts in the fleet before rolling them out to a new build or to the rest of the fleet. The Jade area on Monarch was also great and in addition to the hot rocks, guests can also get Sushi, or Chop’s Grille salads, shrimp cocktail and steak.

I have to say that it really shows the power of the guest service and value of the crew when I look at how Monarch is performing on our balanced scorecard. She is the number two ship in the fleet and her ratings are consistently improving and above target. I told the crew that if all you had to do was be the newest ship to be on top of the scorecard it was one thing, but to have a 19-year-old ship in the second position, and closing in on the number one spot, was clearly a sign of the focus on guests and “Delivering the Wow” at every opportunity. (In case you were wondering, Legend of the Seas is currently number one in the fleet)

One of our guests certainly had the Wow delivered to her on Oasis this week. She was playing the slots and put in three coins for the max bet and won $125,000! This happened on the first night of the cruise. The ship was all a buzz about her big jackpot. (I went to Gulfstream to try my luck after reading about her luck, but only won $32.00 playing Fireball, my new favorite slot machine)

There are a lot of discussions about Allure this week, as Ken Rush, our start up Cruise Director, is already in town working on the compasses and activities line up for Allure. There is so much additional programming and activities related to the DreamWorks events that we will probably have at least 26 versions of the compass before we finalize the ultimate week that showcases two ice shows, Chicago, Blue Planet, two aqua theatre shows, 3D movies, parades, as well as all the other special activities and events! There is so much we have planned that I think our guests will need to sail for two weeks in order to experience it all.

BY:Adam|23rd July, 2010 2 Comments

Guest Post - John’s Journey to Haiti: Conclusion of the 4 Part Story

For everyone who has followed my story up until this point, we’ve witnessed the awe-inspiring advancement and outpouring effort across every front of Haiti’s rebuild. From the first shipments of medical and relief supplies transported on Royal Caribbean ships, to the housing camps and school construction and restoring a sense of order and decency back to daily life; the progress has been powerful.

In addition to these projects, I’m also working on the development of the Citadelle as a tourist destination for our guests. The Citadelle Laferrière is a large mountaintop fortress located near Labadee and the town of Milot. At the base of the Citadelle there are the ruins of the Palais de Sans-Souci, which was the home of King Christophe. These structures were built between 1805 and 1820 and were part of defense system designed to protect the country from incursions from the French.

The goal of this project is to develop the infrastructure so the sites can receive guests from Royal Caribbean, which in turn creates sustainable businesses and jobs in the area. To complete this task, we had to develop the logistical plan, safety enhancements, proposed tour routes, and timing along with identifying the basic infrastructure such as roads and waterside enhancements. I have included a link to what we have submitted to the Ministry of Tourism just to give you an idea of what this tour could look like. I have included pictures of the Citadelle itself. In this case, the pictures simply don’t do it justice.

No guarantee this tour will become a reality but we are pushing for it.

At this point I have completed my official assignment in Haiti but there is still a significant amount of work that has to be completed. More than likely, I will be involved with these projects as they develop so I will provide updates via Adam’s blog if I’m invited to do so again.

BY:Adam|13th July, 2010 18 Comments

An Update on Royal Caribbean’s Newest Partnerships for Haiti’s Reconstruction

The project partners met with the President and Prime Minister of Haiti last week and, not surprisingly, they were very supportive of the project. Our view is that these types of projects are critical to move Haiti forward. While there are many other issues occupying the world’s attention, not least of which is the oil spill in the Gulf, Royal Caribbean will continue to take an active role in Haiti’s long-term rebuilding as promised. There are no illusions here. Haiti faces incredible challenges that are far beyond any one company’s capacity to solve. But we are committed to play our part.I hope our readers are enjoying John Weis’ series on his time in Haiti helping President Clinton and Paul Farmer with their relief efforts and the beginning of the reconstruction process. If there are aspects of John’s coverage that you would like to have him further explore, please let me know. I am proud of the extent and quality of the assistance that John provided. He makes things happen even in the most challenging of circumstances. That is a characterization that suits Haiti well. Now John is “back” doing his normal job, which still involves driving our efforts to construct a new school in Labadee, and to galvanize the Citadelle restoration project. Congratulations to John on a job very well done.

Continuing on the Haiti front, last week there was a press announcement that Royal Caribbean will be working together with Bob Johnson and his team at the RLJ Companies as well as WIN, a successful local Haitian business group, to foster economic development in Haiti. The particular focus in the beginning will be to construct two factories that will build a special kind of structural panel that is hurricane and earthquake resistant, yet economical for applications such as our school project, housing development and other commercial applications. These panels are a product of the GBS Company from Charleston, South Carolina that partnered with the RLJ Companies to build an upscale hotel in Liberia a few years ago.

The project partners met with the President and Prime Minister of Haiti last week and, not surprisingly, they were very supportive of the project. Our view is that these types of projects are critical to move Haiti forward. While there are many other issues occupying the world’s attention, not least of which is the oil spill in the Gulf, Royal Caribbean will continue to take an active role in Haiti’s long-term rebuilding as promised. There are no illusions here. Haiti faces incredible challenges that are far beyond any one company’s capacity to solve. But we are committed to play our part.

BY:Adam|12th July, 2010 4 Comments

Guest Post - John’s Journey to Haiti: Part 3 of the 4 Part Story

As mentioned in my last post, we have been working with Maryse Kedar to establish temporary schools in some of these camps. So far there are 14 primary schools and seven kindergartens impacting over 3,000 children. If Maryse and her organization didn’t take the initiative to establish these schools, 3,000+ children would not have this advantage and necessity of life. There isn’t room for everyone, but for the kids attending these schools, it’s making a difference. Pictures speak a thousand words so here are the results of all the hard work:

Putting these schools together was truly a team effort so I wanted to show you a picture of the team that did the majority of the heavy lifting making these schools possible.

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BY:Adam|6th July, 2010 No Comments

Guest Post - Allure Visit

I had the opportunity to visit Allure of the Seas last week in Turku. Although I always enjoy visiting the shipyard, it is definitely a nicer experience in June than in July. The only trouble is you can’t really sleep because it is light almost all the time.

We are roughly 125 days from delivery and overall the ship looks amazing. I couldn’t believe how much further along she seemed to be than Oasis at this time last year. The scaffolding is down in the Royal Promenade, and we are already laying the tile. In most areas, the carpet is installed as well. It was also great to see some of the new venues taking shape, including Rita’s Cantina, the Boardwalk Doghouse, and the Guess store. There were a few more that are also taking shape, but we haven’t announced those, so I can’t spill the beans yet.

We had several operational meetings with Captain Hernan Zini, who will be the Master on Allure, as well as the hotel start up team, lead by Raimund Gschaider. The team is very pleased with how the inspections are going, as well as the operational planning. Because we are taking delivery a few days earlier than originally planned, we need to compress our training schedule based on when the crew charter flights arrive, so we are reworking that plan.

We also have to rework our plans to plant Central Park upon arrival in Port Everglades, as the staging of the plants and the crane can’t interfere with the Oasis turn, so we have to ensure we have this planned out to the minute.

A unique new operational challenge we discussed is where we are going to store all the DreamWorks costumes. Storage space on a ship is what we often refer to as “Space – the final frontier”, so we are trying to get creative to see where we might be able to house the large number of costumes for this exciting new partnership.

It was a great visit, and we are all looking forward to welcoming our guests onboard Allure. We now say she is just like Oasis – only newer!

BY:Adam|2nd July, 2010 11 Comments

Guest Post - Allure Visit

I had the opportunity to visit Allure of the Seas last week in Turku. Although I always enjoy visiting the shipyard, it is definitely a nicer experience in June than in July. The only trouble is you can’t really sleep because it is light almost all the time.

We are roughly 125 days from delivery and overall the ship looks amazing. I couldn’t believe how much further along she seemed to be than Oasis at this time last year. The scaffolding is down in the Royal Promenade, and we are already laying the tile. In most areas, the carpet is installed as well. It was also great to see some of the new venues taking shape, including Rita’s Cantina, the Boardwalk Doghouse, and the Guess store. There were a few more that are also taking shape, but we haven’t announced those, so I can’t spill the beans yet.

We had several operational meetings with Captain Hernan Zini, who will be the Master on Allure, as well as the hotel start up team, lead by Raimund Gschaider. The team is very pleased with how the inspections are going, as well as the operational planning. Because we are taking delivery a few days earlier than originally planned, we need to compress our training schedule based on when the crew charter flights arrive, so we are reworking that plan.

We also have to rework our plans to plant Central Park upon arrival in Port Everglades, as the staging of the plants and the crane can’t interfere with the Oasis turn, so we have to ensure we have this planned out to the minute.

A unique new operational challenge we discussed is where we are going to store all the DreamWorks costumes. Storage space on a ship is what we often refer to as “Space – the final frontier”, so we are trying to get creative to see where we might be able to house the large number of costumes for this exciting new partnership.

It was a great visit, and we are all looking forward to welcoming our guests onboard Allure. We now say she is just like Oasis – only newer!

BY:Adam|2nd July, 2010 No Comments

Guest Post - John’s Journey to Haiti: Part 2 of the 4 Part Story

Before continuing to the next part of my journey, I should tell you that I’m no stranger to Haiti or its people. Leading Royal Caribbean’s nearly 30 year-long relationship with the country, my involvement in Haiti’s revival began long before the earthquake. While developing Royal Caribbean’s private destination at the port of Labadee for the Oasis of the Seas, my tourism path took an unexpected twist. I became a humanitarian aid coordinator overnight. From mobilizing deliveries of food and medical supplies on our ships to teaming up with smaller organizations to support the construction of schools and orphanages, this assignment has transcended the word “job” and become a life-changing undertaking.

I’m proud of how Royal Caribbean has put real people on the ground in Haiti and positioned teams spanning medical relief to infrastructure rebuild. We’ve chosen to pitch in and advance, rather than pull out and abandon Haiti in this grief-stricken hour. As one of its loyal investors, Royal Caribbean has played an integral role in Haiti’s economic progress. Stationed inside the temporary housing camps, I’m eager to share my account of Haiti’s aftermath, recovery—and Royal Caribbean’s plan to ensure long-term success and stability to this beautiful island.

My last article left you looking into the eyes of this family in Haiti. Like most struggling through Haiti’s chaotic aftermath, this family was unsure what new hardships each day would bring. Thanks to housing camps and a collective foundation of order, structure and humanity are being restored.

In speaking with the father, I learned this family had lost everything; they were only able to salvage some clothes out of the wreckage of their house along with some sheets and other materials to make their shelter. He said he was making the best of the situation and wasn’t sure about the future, but they would make it through. He also made it clear that especially now, the most important thing for him was to make sure his boys went to school and that they looked “respectable.” The father’s trust in making the most of their present situation and his commitment to his children’s education shows his courage and his strength. Looking at the picture of him standing next to his sons, it is easy to see the love that holds them all together.

Going though the camps, you saw this situation a lot; fathers and mothers trying to keep their families together through very tough times and trying to do the best for their children. Being a father myself, you try to put yourself in this situation and anything else going on in your life seems trivial compared to this family and what they will have to go through in the next couple of months, especially during the rainy season. To help ease the challenges, Royal Caribbean is supporting ProDev’s temporary schools and the installation of water tanks to help provide education for the children and clean drinking water for the people living in the camps.

The children in the camps really kept me focused and were huge motivators. These kids are the future for Haiti’s recovery and helping provide these children with a quality education is very important for the long-term success and stability of Haiti. When you walk through these camps, children are everywhere and love to interact with you. They really put a meaning into why you’re in Haiti trying to make a difference. Here are some of the children who live in the camp:

Join me again next week when I’ll take you inside the temporary schools erected in the housing camps. We’ll meet the team members behind these feats of construction, and witness their compassion and dedication to this community. Brightened by the faces of smiling children, it’s within these classrooms that Haiti’s rebuild will become a reality.

Article by John Weis, Associate Vice-President of Private Destinations for Royal Caribbean International

BY:Adam|29th June, 2010 2 Comments

Guest Post - John’s Journey to Haiti: Part 1 of the 4 Part Story

It’s been over four months since I began my assignment helping with the disaster recovery in Haiti, and to say it has been a life changing experience would be an understatement. I have seen things I never thought I would; possibly in the movies, but never in real life. I have also met hundreds of people dropping everything in their normal lives to come down here and live in difficult conditions to help people they have never met. Most of these people said they had a “calling” to help, and many ended up falling in love with the Haitian people after working here for a period of time. This is especially true of those that worked with the children. I also had the privilege of working with people I’ve known over the years that really stepped up to the challenge and ended up playing a leading role in the recovery effort. It was extremely gratifying to see this, and I was proud of them.

As for me, my focus was on helping organizations that were not familiar with operating in Haiti. We would help coordinate their shipments of relief supplies and make sure they reach their people on the ground. I also worked with these organizations to build their skill sets and capacity internally, so they could coordinate their own shipments going forward. In addition, I’ve also been working on some of the more strategic initiatives in the area of education, health and long-term growth, specifically job creation. One area of particular interest is the development of the Citadelle as a guest destination. I will share more details on this later in this blog.

Before I go any further, I want to make sure I recognize the people I’ve been working with. As most of these initiatives are a team effort, I have the privilege of writing about them on Adam’s blog.

First and foremost, I want to mention Maryse Kedar and her husband Daniel. They were on the ground during the quake and their organization ProDev, was one of the first to take action by setting up water tanks in the camps, and then temporary schools for the thousands of children in these camps. Their team, led by Sharon Ramon (one of those people who dropped everything to help those in need), set the foundation for the curriculum and organizational structure for Royal Caribbean’s school initiative. This is something else I will share with you later in the blog.

Next is Lauren Ordway, who works for Royal Caribbean in the area of Safety and Environment, and coordinated the logistics associated with sending down hundreds of pallets with relief supplies via Royal Caribbean ships. These supplies consisted of everything you can imagine from medical supplies, construction material, oxygen generators, food, clothing and dialysis machines. A good portion of these supplies came from Compassionate Alliance who was with us from day one. There were many organizations working with us, but this one in particular really went above and beyond for Haiti, and I want to commend them for this.

Completing the difficult task of unloading and distributing these supplies was David Southby and Dave Scott. These two alternated as site managers for Labadee, and had the unenviable task of making sure that donated supplies were distributed to the communities fairly, and that assigned donations got to their NGO partners on the ground. The word “difficult” doesn’t fully capture the full scope of this task, so I will just say thank you.

Finally there was Gary Bald, Richard Pruitt and Steve Williams who worked to coordinate the overall effort from a leadership, medical and direct resource standpoint. Anything I asked for, these guys came through with executive support, medical expertise or the intellectual capital I needed to push through a problem.

I think it goes without saying, much appreciation goes to Craig Milan, Adam Goldstein and Richard Fain who had no hesitation supporting Haiti’s relief effort in spirit and, most importantly, from a resource and financial standpoint. I can honestly say there was never a moment of hesitation in making the generous commitment they made to this relief effort.

I think I covered everyone, but that’s the problem when you start thanking people individually; there are so many, and inevitably, someone gets left out. So, if you’re one of those people, thanks!!!!!

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BY:Adam|22nd June, 2010 No Comments
 

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