- Someone once said the business of America is business. Even taking that into consideration, the outpouring of grief and accolades for Steve Jobs after his death was remarkable. And it wasn’t limited to America. There is a global recognition that his leadership and accomplishments were transformational. As both an admirer and a customer, I join in the mourning of his untimely passing and wish the leadership of Apple well in the daunting task of carrying on with Jobs’ vision. He obviously inspired a lot of people. Who else do you find similarly inspirational?
My name is Philip Gephardt, and currently I am the Open Deck Manager on Liberty of the Seas, but will soon be transferring to Allure of the Seas. I have been with the company for over three years now, and have loved every ship I have been a part of. So, my friends from the shore side support team have asked if I could write about a regular day in my life, which of course, is not regular at all.
Do you remember the old cigarette commercial that said its cigarette was “a silly millimeter longer?” Well, according to the laser measurements that our classification society DNV recently conducted in Turku, Allure of the Seas is 50 millimeters longer than Oasis of the Seas. In relation to something that is 362 meters long, the relative differential between the ships is much, much less than one millimeter was to a cigarette back in the day (do you remember cigarette commercials at all?). In fact, a 50-millimeter differential is certainly within the building tolerance for such a ship construction project.
But here in the 21st century, any advantage is one worth pressing, so Captain Hernan Zini and the officers of Allure of the Seas find it rather obvious that they are responsible for the new and undisputed largest cruise ship in the world. While the officers of Oasis of the Seas have confidence in DNV, they are nevertheless threatening to get NASA involved in making more precise measurements. In the alternative, as the lawyers say, Oasis’ officers say, “Who cares about 50 millimeters?”
Other than the above controversy, Allure’s delivery ceremony was flawless. I have been stating in recent entries that the ship was unusually ready. Having now witnessed its condition as well as the readiness of the crew with my own eyes, I’m confident to say we could have taken paying guests right from the shipyard on a real cruise. However, there are so many new features on Allure (DreamWorks elements, Chicago: the Musical, Blue Planet, Samba Grill, Rita’s Cantina, Boardwalk Dog House, Guess store, Britto art store and Starbucks just to name the major ones) that I’m sure our team onboard will make good use of their “alone” time. Speaking of which, Lisa Bauer will now commence her guest blogging from Allure as it makes its way across the ocean for Port Everglades for its November 11th arrival.
On behalf of Royal Caribbean, I would like to express our appreciation for the fantastic work that the STX Shipyard team and its subcontractors have done to make Allure of the Seas the beauty she is and to deliver her more than two weeks ahead of the original building schedule. While we do not have any more ships on order at this time, we certainly look forward in the future to continuing a mutually beneficial relationship that dates back to the construction of our first ship Song of Norway that the Turku shipyard delivered to us 40 Octobers ago.
I’m lobbying to change the name of our newest ship to Entertainment of the Seas. The variety of entertainment options is amazing, and was further solidified last week when we conducted two previews of Chicago: The Musical at our Hollywood Studio.
As we watched the previews, I was thinking about everything it took to get to the final run through. I recalled the vocal director, Loren, during the auditions in New York when we were trying to find the perfect falsetto to play the Miss Sunshine role. I also laughed thinking about Christi Coachman’s comments that we were sending her to audition long-legged dancers for Chicago: The Musical and 4′10″ performers for the penguin characters of DreamWorks. She said it was the most complex casting ever!
Chicago: The Musical was definitely raising the bar for us. There was an element of risk taking a 6-time Tony Award winning musical that is normally 2:10 hours with an intermission and making it into a 90 minute version; not to mention it’s an Academy Award Winning movie that set high expectations. We worked hard to ensure all the key elements of the story were included, as well as every notable song such as, “All that Jazz,” and “Razzle Dazzle.” I’m confident that our guests onboard will not miss a single “beat” (pardon the bad pun).
The cast is incredible. Christi certainly did find us the long-legged dancers, and the choreography is especially impressive. The content of the show is definitely more adult than what we’ve done in the past. As a result, we have attached a “PG” content on the show reservations section of the website and there will be a message in the onboard cruise compass. However, when we did the run through, we had a number of kids there. My favorite comment came from a 9 year old who loved the dancing and when he left the studio, he said, “I need my exit music.” You will just have to see the show onboard to get that one!
It’s hard to believe, but in less than two weeks we will be in Turku to accept delivery of Allure of the Seas. There are other subjects I would like to blog about, but it’s clear what the readers want to know - everything possible about Allure of the Seas.
To illustrate the point, I will talk about something else. We recently posted an aerial photo of Oasis of the Seas docked across a thin pier in Mexico from Freedom of the Seas. We posted it because we recognized it would make for an interesting juxtaposition of the current largest cruise ship with the previous largest cruise ship. We totally underestimated the intensity of interest in the photo and the excitement it would generate, especially from people who knew the Freedom-class well and were already booked for an upcoming Oasis-class cruise. The point is that the passion people have for our newest ships continues to take us aback even though we designed the ships to incite such passion. The reality is more compelling than the theory.
Unfortunately - there are no major disclosures regarding Allure today except to say we are not done yet. We have every intention of creating more news before, during and after Allure’s introduction; just not today in this blog.
In preparation for the arrival of the ship, I’ve been in New York visiting media and meeting with our marketing and PR agencies. The difference between doing Allure-related media interviews now and doing Oasis-related media visits last year is remarkable. Last year, despite great anticipation about the arrival of Oasis, there was a strong undercurrent of skepticism about our ability to fill the ship in such distressing economic times and our ability to operate the ship with so many guests. Today, the skepticism is gone and the focus is on what is different about Allure (what we’ve admitted to so far: DreamWorks elements, Chicago: The Musical, 3-D movies, Samba Grill, Boardwalk Dog House, Rita’s Cantina, Britto art store and the Guess store). It’s a testimony to the incredible work put in by so many people since 2004 that the Oasis-class concept is accepted as an obvious success.
One post-script about the PR effort: it doesn’t just happen. It is the result of a never-ending quest by our own personnel and our agency (Weber- Shandwick) to brainstorm media-worthy ideas, attract media interest, and execute even the most arduous concepts. After the abundance of publicity that Oasis of the Seas received last year, our PR team faced a daunting task to generate even a meaningful echo of such notoriety with Allure of the Seas. They have done a great job so far with highlights (I can talk about) so far including the Taylor Swift concert on Allure in Cozumel in mid-January and the filming of Adam Sandler’s next feature movie titled “Jack and Jill,” starring Katie Holmes and Al Pacino, during the inaugural cruises in November. Stay tuned. Do you think you have a PR idea our team should be pursuing? Let us know.
The music is some of the most recognizable in the world.The movie single- handedly launched the world wide disco phenomenon.It was the idea that SaturdayNight Fever has such global appeal that inspired us to add this amazing show to the entertainment line up on Liberty of the Seas in April of 2011 as she transitions to her first European season. Most importantly, it was our guests that selected this show when we did a survey searching for show options for Liberty of the Seas. I, of course wasn’t surprised this show was selected, especially watching the reaction that our 70’s night party had onboard with everyone singing and dancing in the Royal Promenade, and it is a standing (OK dancing) room only!This show also appeals to all ages, as one of my fondest memories is twirling with my 11 year old nephew Kyle after he asked me to dance to “Night Fever.”
We know that entertainment is one of the most important elements to our guests, and since we’ve introduced Hairspray and soon to premier Chicago: The Musical, it is clear that this level of Broadway and West End productions have truly elevated our entertainment line up.Of course, it also means that we can’t even take a breather after Allure of the Seas . My entertainment team, fresh off delivering a plethora of parades, ice, water, and production shows on Allure of the Seas, will not have any rest – but rather will head to New Yorknext week to begin the auditions for Saturday Night Fever.We will begin a search for 24 talented cast members that will bring this show to life.I have no doubt that the theatre on Liberty of the Seas will have our guests out of their seats and singing and dancing to the Bee Gees’ mega hits during these shows!
Liberty of the Seas certainly has a special place in my heart – her initials are LB, as are mine. She arrived in the US during the inaugurals on my birthday back in 2007, so I am thrilled that during her dry dock in January, we will be adding a number of exciting features that our guests truly embraced on Oasis of the Seas .Everything from Cupcake Cupboard to a nursery, our award winning digital signage, outdoor movie screens, our DreamWorks line up, and 3D movie capabilities will all be new features.
Get your dancing shoes on and get ready to join us on Liberty!
Allure of the Seas’ delivery is a month away. For many on our team, the preparations are getting more intense. For me, they’re getting more enjoyable. Here are two recent examples:
September 17th was a proud day for our Entertainment team. They summoned us to Nova Southeastern University for the run through of Blue Planet, the phenomenal show that will share the main theater on Allure of the Seas with Chicago the Musical. Even without the costumes or sets it was dazzling to take in the singing, dancing, flying, trampoline jumping, and everything else that is in the show. I’ve said in my comments to the audience that we used to wonder if we could ever be as good as Broadway. Now I think the question may be, can Broadway do the things we do? A Broadway musical doesn’t have to share the same stage with another show so that all the sets have to disappear and not get in the way of each other. Not to mention that the talent doesn’t have to perform at an extremely high level in multiple productions simultaneously. And the extra cost to the guest: zero.
As an aside, the Entertainment team had some of the DreamWorks characters at the run through. I think the head of the lion’s costume from Madagascar must be at least one gross registered ton.
Moving to the culinary world at the risk of the readers thinking all we do is sample our cruise fare every day (that is, when we’re not watching shows), we recently had lunch in the test kitchen to try the menu from 150 Central Park on Allure of the Seas. You may remember that Molly Brandt recently won a contest that we co-sponsored with the Culinary Institute of America to be the inaugural chef in our top of the line specialty restaurant that has been such a hit on Oasis of the Seas. Well, now we know why Molly won - she’s an amazing chef. I won’t spill the beans on the menu items but I will say that the concept, the presentation, and the taste will be a real treat for our guests. Plus, Molly is a pleasure to be around and we hope many of our readers get a chance to meet her and have the 150 Central Park experience.
As the head of global marketing for the Royal Caribbean brand, I have the opportunity to work with some terrific partners. Those of you who have sailed with us have enjoyed many of their products onboard, including Crayola and Fisher-Price, who add great value to our complimentary Adventure Ocean youth program, or Johnny Rockets delighting guests every day onboard our ships with burgers and tunes, or CocaCola - whose soft drinks are so popular - and now DreamWorks Animation, among others.
You may wonder how we choose our partners. The answer, as the saying goes, is “very carefully.” Our number one criterion is adding value to the guest experience. We want our guest experience to be the greatest in the industry, so we partner with some of the world’s best brands to bring together our experience and theirs in a way that adds maximum value and enjoyment to our guests.
We are currently working closely with DreamWorks Animation to bring “The DreamWorks Experience” to life on four of our ships, starting with our newest ship, Allure of the Seas, this December. The DreamWorks experience will include a “How To Train Your Dragon” ice show, a “Madagascar” aqua show, character breakfasts, activities for the kids in Adventure Ocean, character meet-and-greets, parades and sail away parties, and of course, 3D films in our new 3D theatre. After introducing this very exciting guest experience onboard Allure of the Seas, we will be adding The DreamWorks experience early next year on Oasis of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, and Freedom of the Seas. We’re also making our first-ever fully animated television commercial with DreamWorks, which has been a really fun experience. Look for it on air in November.
In addition to working with partners on the onboard experience, we look for opportunities to work together in joint promotions for both brands. Right now we are participating with Johnny Rockets in their “Rockin’ Summer” promotion that encourages their customers to come back often and win prizes including cruises on Allure of the Seas. Johnny Rockets mailed a flyer describing the promotion to over 2 million people, posted it on their Facebook fan page, and have in-store signage in 147 stores giving us great brand exposure and visibility for Allure of the Seas, joining the Royal Caribbean family on December 1, 2010. This is a win/win for Johnny Rockets and for us as we get exposure for our new ship and they get a valuable incentive to their customers: be among the first to sail the newest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. Now who wouldn’t want to do that?
We have some other exciting promotions in the works with Coca-Cola, American Express, DreamWorks and more, all centered on bringing attention to Allure of the Seas, so keep an eye out as we will always post them on our Facebook page and try to convince Adam to blog about them…that is, when he’s not waxing on about his amazing feats in running! And yes, we are working on a really fun new partnership to offer a competitive run in one of our most popular destinations, but I know he’ll want to talk about that so stay tuned.
It’s been an exciting week for Royal Caribbean International. We are gathering feedback from the market in the aftermath of our two big announcements: the program enhancements to the Crown & Anchor Society and our new relationship with DreamWorks Animation.
We’ve received overwhelmingly positive responses on the Crown & Anchor changes. It isn’t my intention to repeat all of the compliments here (not that it isn’t tempting) but to make a few observations/clarifications.
First, the current Ultimate Value Books (a.k.a. coupon books) expire on June 30th and the new ones will arrive before then. In the interim, we’re giving our guests immediate access to the three most significant new or augmented benefits: Internet, laundry and photo. An insert will be placed in the coupon book onboard until the new ones arrive. On most ships the books will arrive in the next two weeks. Legend of the Seas will get her books in late June.
Second, some of our shareholders who are Crown & Anchor members are displeased that the shareholder benefit cannot be used together with Crown & Anchor discounts, including the new onboard booking bonus. We are sorry that this is the case but we cannot modify our approach in this area. In order for the onboard booking bonus to be as robust as possible and to be used together with the Crown & Anchor discounts, we could not allow the shareholder discount to also be used together with it. Please bear in mind that the reason to own our stock is that you believe the stock represents a good investment in connection with your personal investing strategy. The cruise benefit is a nice opportunity to have, if applicable, but not a reason to own the stock.
Third, we have received comments from members who want the benefit of the new onboard booking bonus retroactively applied to previously made bookings. I hope most of you appreciate that we needed to pick a time to introduce this benefit and that there would always be customers who had booked not long before the implementation date. There is no way to draw a line on retroactivity and so the bonus is applicable for eligible bookings made on or after our June 1st announcement.
Finally, as we have intimated previously, we look forward to introducing more enhancements to the Crown & Anchor Society in the not too distant future.
Returning to DreamWorks, we are really excited about this major step forward in our entertainment and programming. DreamWorks is the leader in animated films and Royal Caribbean International is the leader in cruising. Although these companies have worked in very different spaces, they have in common vision, inspiration, creativity, scale and global reach. Not to mention that both companies’ products make people happy.
From the beginning of the dialogue last year until the announcement on Friday, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and his team have been a pleasure to be around. Their dedication and commitment to exploring the possibilities of a relationship made this relationship come to life. They are very serious about what they do, about the development of their world-renowned characters and about building a foundation for long-term success. We don’t see limits to what we can achieve together.
Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations
Royal Caribbean International
Lisa is the Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for Royal Caribbean International, which includes food & beverage, onboard activities and entertainment, casino operations, shopping venues, housekeeping, facilities and guest services. In her guest blogs, Lisa shares an inside look into new product developments, including dining, development of exciting entertainment, shopping venues, and much more. She travels around to each of the ships during the year to gather insights from guests and crew on how Royal can continue to Deliver the WOW. Lisa is a huge animal lover, and has several cats and dogs, including a chocolate lab puppy named Coco Chanel and two rescue cats, Dolce & Gabbana.
CRAIG MILAN
Senior Vice President, Land Operations Royal Celebrity Tours
Craig Milan is the president of Royal Celebrity Tours, the land tour division of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which offers unique land tours in conjunction with cruises in Alaska, Europe, Australia & New Zealand, South America Asia and Dubai. Craig can also provide our readers with the latest information on government relations, shore excursions, our private beach destinations, commercial development, guest port services and port operations. Craig is a competitive open water swimmer and an avid triathlete.
JOHN WEIS
Associate Vice President, Guest Port Experience Royal Caribbean International
John Weis, Associate Vice President of Guest Port Experience manages our two private beach getaways CocoCay, Bahamas and Labadee, Haiti, all shore excursions world wide and was involved with the Clinton Global Initiative. His past blog posts have shared the latest on our work with rebuilding Haiti and offers ways for our guests to get involved. John is married and has two children, a boy and the girl. He is an avid diver and boater and has lived in South Florida for the past 35 years.
BETSY O'ROURKE
Senior Vice President, Marketing Royal Caribbean International
Betsy O'Rourke is the Senior Vice President of Marketing where she is responsible for all aspects of the global cruise line's marketing program, including brand strategy and positioning, consumer and trade advertising, web and loyalty marketing, research, brand development, and communications. Betsy shares exciting news on upcoming brand partnerships, campaigns and the Crown and Anchor Society. She was born in California, lived in Europe for ten years and her first job was crewing on day boats in Malta.
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