New Dining Options Discussed in Our Latest Live Chat

Last week I hosted a live chat with a focus on the Oasis of the Seas’ dining offerings. I was joined by two of my Hotel Operations colleagues, Frank Weber, VP, Food & Beverage Operations, and Ken Taylor, Director, Restaurant Operations. Our listeners asked over a thousand questions! An interesting twist was that many of the questions came from children. Obviously there is no way to field such a staggering number of questions but our fearless moderator Jessica Correa, Director, Brand Innovation & Alliance Marketing, does her best to select questions that are indicative of the key themes as the questions are flooding in. I’m sure some of the listeners believe Jessica only wants to relay softball questions. They don’t know Jessica. I’ve worked with her for many years and I can assure you she’s not particularly interested in making my life easy. Just kidding, Jessica.

There was a lot of interest in understanding which dining opportunities will be free and which will be for a charge and how much of a charge. Our goal is to offer a wider range of opportunities to eat “for free” than ever before and also provide numerous additional choices at a range of price points that we would only offer for a charge. You can check out the transcript of the chat at oasisoftheseas.com or the press release we issued right after the chat to review the choices and the charges.

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BY:Adam|29th June, 2009 22 Comments

Guest Post: Oasis Takes its Sea Trial

As a part of a continuing series of guest blog entries from the senior leaders of the Royal Caribbean International brand, I have asked Captain Bill Wright, Senior VP Marine Operations and soon to be first Master (Captain) of Oasis of the Seas, to give his first-hand perspective on the recently completed first sea trial of Oasis of the Seas. Obviously it was quite a “Wow.”

Capt. William Wright

The hotel lobby in Turku, Finland is buzzing even though it is only 3:00 am on Monday morning, June 8, 2009. Pick-up vans and taxis are lined up to take the 65 Royal Caribbean employees who will join some 270 yard workers and vendor specialists and technicians to the ship yard where Oasis of the Seas is in final preparations for going to sea for the first time. The yard has only allowed a one hour boarding window from 3:30- 4:30 am with departure scheduled for 5:00 am to ensure the right tidal and wind conditions. Ironically, the first nautical mile of her first voyage will be one of the most challenging she will ever face. With only a few feet of water under her keel and a channel to navigate that is barely wider than her beam, conditions must be perfect.

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BY:Adam|26th June, 2009 24 Comments

Guest Post: A Look at the Future Home of Oasis of the Seas

With the launch on Oasis of the Seas quickly approaching, there has been a lot of interest in what is being done at the ship’s home port in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl to be ready for her arrival. This week, I have invited Craig Milan, Senior Vice President of Land Operations to give a perspective on the significant expansions that are underway at Port Everglades’ Terminal 18. Craig oversees Guest Port Services and is working closely with the Port Everglades team to make sure everything is ready for the Oasis of the Seas. Thank you Craig.

Craig Milan


When the Oasis of the Seas makes her debut later this year, she will be home porting at Port Everglades – Terminal 18. We are very excited at the prospect of our new ship operating from this new home.

Port Everglades will more than triple the size of Terminal 18 in order to accommodate the Oasis of the Seas and her sister ship Allure of the Seas. Terminal 18 will become the largest single-ship cruise terminal in the world. Already the largest of Port Everglades’ 12 terminals with 67,500 square feet of interior space, Terminal 18 will soon cover 240,000 square feet.

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BY:Adam|22nd June, 2009 13 Comments

An Inside Perspective – The Nation of Why Not

We are well into our first year of our new marketing campaign - The Nation of Why Not - and some of the key elements have crystallized while others will continue to evolve. We’re proud and excited to communicate that anything is possible on a Royal Caribbean vacation. Why is anything possible? 40 years of passion for guest satisfaction plus 40 years of commitment to innovation have produced myriad experiences for guests who want action and total relaxation for guests who just want to de-stress. It is our responsibility to keep the quality of our product high and keep the innovations coming so this equation endures into the future.

What have we learned about The Nation of Why Not? First, that the Why Not? part actually comes first in the sense of challenging consumers to become our guests, leave regular life behind and experience a Royal Caribbean vacation. Second, once onboard our guests come to understand the concept of the Nation. Our ships are unique environments that combine amazing features with Gold Anchor Service and interesting destinations. Over time we have been extremely fortunate to develop great loyalty from our resident (crew) and guest citizens as well as the ambassadors (travel agents) of the Nation. Each element of our citizenry is crucial to our success.

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BY:Adam|18th June, 2009 29 Comments

The George Smith Case, Four Years Later

It has been four years since the tragic disappearance of George Smith from Brilliance of the Seas while on his honeymoon with Jennifer Hagel Smith. The case continues to unfold and in fact was in the news again the week of June 8th. Why? The probate court in Connecticut unsealed the records of the hearing that resulted in a judge’s ruling that the settlement between Royal Caribbean and the estate was fair and reasonable and in the best interests of all of the beneficiaries, including both Jennifer Hagel and the Smith family. The Smith family has appealed that ruling to a Connecticut Superior Court and is also challenging Jennifer’s right to continue as personal representative of the estate.

Normally I would not comment on this development, even to reiterate the following two variations on what we’ve been saying for four years. First, the released information once again demonstrates that we acted properly in assisting Jennifer Hagel and the Smith family in the aftermath of their tragic loss. Second, during the investigation of Mr. Smith’s disappearance, Royal Caribbean provided complete support, assistance and cooperation to the FBI, including the provision of all documents and materials that were requested. Moreover, during the original probate proceedings, Royal Caribbean released all of the relevant facts to the public regarding George Smith’s disappearance, with the exception of certain information the FBI asked the company not to disclose to protect its investigation. The newly released documents do not add anything new to what was previously known about this tragedy.

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BY:Adam|16th June, 2009 10 Comments
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Guest Post: One of our Best Assets - Travel Agents

Adam: In addition to all the wonderful and talented employees that work onboard our ships and in our offices, we also rely on the community of professional travel agents to help guests plan a memorable vacation before they sail. This week, I’ve asked Vicki Freed,

Vicki Freed

senior vice president of Sales, Trade Support and Services, to discuss why we recommend travel agents and the important role that they play. Thank you Vicki!

One of my most memorable Royal Caribbean experiences was before I even worked here. It was on Freedom of the Seas, the newest ship around at the time, when my 11 year old son and I successfully finished riding the waves on the FlowRider – what an amazing experience! My son was in awe and kept telling me “Mom, this is the coolest ever!” I responded, “That’s good honey but don’t go around saying that, Mommy works for the competition.”

Well, I’ve now been working at Royal Caribbean a year and a half and I have to agree with my son….Royal Caribbean is the coolest thing ever!

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BY:Adam|12th June, 2009 11 Comments
CATEGORY: Guest Posts

An Interest in America’s Energy Health

Recently I wrote about my participation in child welfare in my home community of Miami-Dade County. Actually, my involvement extends to the state of Florida level as I am a member of the Task Force on Fostering Success that advises George Sheldon, Secretary of the Department of Children & Families, on statewide issues related to child welfare. We had a task force meeting in Tampa last week. I’m pleased to note that the discussion about one of the many thorny issues we wrestled with at the meeting – collection, storage and use of DNA samples from foster children – was moderated by Mike Seigel, my law school roommate and current Professor of Law at the University of Florida. It was great to be able to connect with a friend of nearly 30 years for such a cause.

The point of this blog however is to briefly describe my other “community” involvement besides child welfare. This is a national level participation in a wonderful group of dedicated Americans who want to galvanize a comprehensive effort to improve the energy security of the United States. I am a member of the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC) that is composed of 10 to 12 business CEO’s led by Fred Smith, the legendary founder and leader of FedEx, and eight to 10 retired top military officers led by another legend, General P.X. Kelley, who was Commandant of the Marine Corps. The ESLC is an affiliate of a policy and advocacy group known as Securing America’s Future Energy or S.A.F.E. which is organized and overseen by Robbie Diamond.

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BY:Adam|10th June, 2009 7 Comments
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Balancing Great Value and an Array of Choices

One strain of critical commentary about the modern cruise offering is that the cruise lines are “nickel and diming” the customers. Technically I suppose it should be “nickeling and diming” but I don’t think anyone says it that way. The basic idea is that the cruise lines are charging for products/services that they should be providing for free. Even though most if not all consumers know there is very little that is truly free in life or in cruising, many argue vigorously that one charge or another should not exist. It should not surprise the reader that we spend a lot of time thinking about what should be included in the ticket price and what should be offered for an additional charge.

Our philosophy at Royal Caribbean International is that the ticket price should include a guest’s accommodations as well as enough of the culinary options and entertainment and activity choices to enable a fulfilling cruise experience without the necessity of many additional charges. We are confident we meet this standard and we are committed to continue doing so in the future. At the same time, we are also committed to offering an ever greater variety of options and choices for our guests. Why? Because all of our research and guest feedback indicates this is the preference of the market. In essence, this is why our ships have increased in size over time.

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BY:Adam|8th June, 2009 42 Comments

Guest Post: Behind the Creation of My Time Dining

Adam: As much as I enjoy creating my own blog entries, once a week I intend to give over to one of the other leaders of our brand to speak in more detail about their respective areas. Of course, many of our readers’ interests are in the direction of what happens on the ships, so it is logical to give the first opportunity to Lisa Bauer, Senior VP, Hotel Operations. Thank you, Lisa!

Lisa Bauer

Hi this is Lisa. My team oversees all of our entertainment; onboard shopping; casino; housekeeping; guest services and facilities; and food and beverage operations. I could write for days on each of these areas, but one of the key areas our guests really love is our food and dining service. In fact, the relationship that our guests develop with our wait staff in the dining room is one of the things that they tell us is a key highlight of their cruise. So I thought I would share some of the reasons we why have been so focused on how we could transform the main dining room experience.

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BY:Adam|5th June, 2009 37 Comments

My Involvement Outside of Royal

Occasionally I’ll take a break from writing about Royal Caribbean to comment on my involvements outside of overseeing a global cruise line. Yes there are challenges involved in doing my day job, participating in two major “other” activities one of which I will describe here, spending quality time with my family, training intensively for running races and taking table tennis lessons. But these are all things I’m dedicated to doing.

For the last three years I have been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of a wonderful organization named Our Kids of Miami-Dade, Inc. I was also on the Board for three years before that, overseeing the System of Care Committee. Our Kids is the lead agency in Miami-Dade and Monroe (i.e., the Keys) Counties for foster care and related services. We are responsible for the system of care that must deliver quality and safety to approximately 4,000 children who have been placed under the state of Florida’s supervision because their parents were judged to be at least temporarily unfit to be parents. We receive about $95 million per year in funding from the state to do our job, plus there is federal Medicaid funding that supports the system of care.

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BY:Adam|3rd June, 2009 4 Comments
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