Ask Adam Blog Series – January 2012 Answers

We started off 2012 with the unveiling of our warmly received “The Sea is Calling. Answer it Royally.” campaign and now we are introducing the January edition of our Ask Adam blog series. As we do every month, we would like to thank everyone who has submitted their questions for Adam to answer and we hope you continue to do so. If you missed December’s questions please click here, or if you have a question you would like to ask Adam regarding Royal Caribbean news, what he’s been up to or just curious about all things Royal Caribbean, please follow this link to our Facebook discussions page and submit your questions there.

Just wondering if you have been on all of your ships and which one is your favorite? - P Peacock

Thank you for asking an unanswerable question! This is similar to asking which is your favorite child. I have a great attachment to all of them. I can only offer that the two projects that I was most involved in were the Voyager-class and Oasis-class, so for sure I have a very strong bond with those ships.

Hi Adam, Royal Caribbean is my brand of choice; however, I have attempted to see what some of the other lines are offering. There are two areas that I feel that could keep me Loyal to Royal. I would like to be able to bring my own bottle of wine or champagne onboard. It would be helpful if the company would assign a loyalty number to each new RCCL booking, like the Carnival brands. My daughter has two cruises that she does not have credit. It sometimes is a hassle to go online or try to sign up onboard. - Delores L.
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The Unexpected Journey of Allure’s Chef de Cuisine, Molly Brandt

If you asked me a year and a half ago what I’d be doing today, the last thing I would say is “Chef de Cuisine at 150 Central Park aboard the largest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas.”

My name is Molly Brandt. And really, I never expected to be here.

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The Last Frontier: A Day in the Life of an Alaskan Tour Director

I am Jack Burton, a Tour Director with Royal Celebrity Tours, the land-based-vacation arm of Royal Caribbean International. We operate the pre- and post-cruise Alaska land tours for Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas from Fairbanks in the Interior of Alaska to the port of Seward. We are the only company that provides a Tour Director on each and every one of our Alaska Cruisetours.

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Royal Caribbean President & CEO Adam Goldstein Shares Some Personal Anecdotes

Please pardon me while I temporarily divert from the challenges of daily life to talk about two completely unrelated and enjoyable phenomena.

First, I warned our head of marketing Betsy O’Rourke that I was going to take some license with our new marketing platform “The Sea is Calling. Answer it Royally.” My alternative version is “The Track is Calling. Answer it Early.” I realize most people wouldn’t associate a 5:30 a.m. workout session on the track with anything enjoyable. So I won’t go there. But I will say my evolution from rarely working out early in the morning to working out early nearly every morning has affected more than my running. I have found that the world between 4:30 and 6:30 a.m. is a different place and interesting in its own right. Even in a metropolitan area there are sometimes plenty of stars to see. Sometimes there are possums waddling across the street or raccoons racing across. My vision of the iconic newspaper delivery boy has given way to the reality of a madman in a pickup truck who drives on both sides of the road depending on where he is going to flip the next paper, making it nearly impossible to know where to run to avoid him. And once I get to the track itself, I encounter an element of humanity with little in common except they all arrived early at the track. This is a sufficient connection to cause some complete strangers to say hello to one another. In the dark. Where else are you going to find that? Click Here to Read More…

The Caribbean’s Best Kept Secret

One of my favorite job responsibilities is to make sure my team of Certified Vacation Planners are always aware of the outstanding vacation experiences Royal Caribbean International offers. And this includes the amazing destinations we visit throughout the world on our fleet of 22 ships. My name is Ken Muskat, and I am the Vice President of Consumer Outreach. Our guests have a variety of ways to book their cruise vacation based on what is best suited for them. Whether you choose to book through a Professional Travel Agent, through our website or through our team of Certified Vacation Planners, it is our goal to ensure all offer the guidance, professionalism and expertise you expect.

As a result, I like to take advantage of the fact that I can vacation on the best cruise line in the world, and bring my experiences back to my team so they are trained on the most up to date information and can pass that along to their customers. Most recently I sailed on Liberty of the Seas for New Years. This five-night cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale visited our private beach destination, Labadee, and one of our newest ports of call, Falmouth, Jamaica. I was so excited about this cruise because I had never been to Falmouth, and while I have visited Labadee many times, there was a host of new offerings that I had not experienced and was very much looking forward to. Click Here to Read More…

Romero Britto and Royal Caribbean: A True Work of Art

Recently I had the opportunity with my wife to spend an afternoon with Romero Britto and his team at his studio in Miami. It was very enjoyable. While Romero is very aware of his status as a major contemporary artist, he retains a sort of childlike wonder at how all of this has happened to him. His walls are covered not only with his vibrant, colorful paintings but also photographs of Romero with many of the world’s most notable celebrities.

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Ask Adam Blog Series – December 2011 Answers

Thanks to everyone who continues to read our blog and submit great questions about Royal Caribbean and cruising. This past month’s questions were once again exceptional and an absolute pleasure to answer. If you missed November’s questions please click here, or if you have a question you would like to ask Adam regarding Royal Caribbean news, what he’s been up to or just curious about all things Royal Caribbean, please follow this link to our Facebook discussions page and submit your questions there.

How often do you go on cruises? Are you also the CEO of Royal Caribbean’s sister lines? - Stuart S.

Stuart, I am the President & CEO of Royal Caribbean International and I work closely with Dan Hanrahan, the President & CEO of Celebrity Cruises, and Larry Pimentel, the President & CEO of Azamara Cruises. The answer to your first question is easy: not often enough! Everyone in the family enjoys cruising but we all have to contend with busy schedules, sports training and our attachments to skiing and to Maine. In the end, we cruise about every other year.

Hi Adam, big question about what’s next for Royal Caribbean, Oasis and Allure are so amazing, how can you guys do better? What new things can be done? What innovations can be made? Will there be another ship in the Oasis Class? - Dillon F.

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President & CEO Adam Goldstein Talks about Royal Caribbean’s Dedication to Safety

The Costa Concordia accident is a defining moment in the history of the modern cruise industry. We will need the results of the authorities’ investigations to truly understand and respond to all of the implications. But we do not need to wait for anyone or anything to underscore the preeminent role of safety in the daily life of every cruise ship and of the industry as a whole.

By coincidence, half of our Captains and most of our Hotel Directors arrived in South Florida for our annual Fleet Operations leadership conference over the weekend. This gave our Chairman Richard Fain and me a timely opportunity to underscore both our excellent 42 year safety record and more importantly to emphasize the imperative of keeping our record intact into the future. Click Here to Read More…

Koalas, Joeys, and the Opera House: Sydney, Australia Offers More than Just Adventure

My name is Beth Painter and I’m a Director for the Shore Excursions department. Our team coordinates the various tours that guests can participate on during their cruise vacations in ports all over the world. I’ve always loved to travel, a passion I inherited from my parents, so working for Royal Caribbean International was a great opportunity. Between the brands that our corporation owns, we have so many amazing itineraries and I’ve tried to take full advantage of them. One of my favorite places I’ve traveled to in recent years is Sydney, Australia. We actually visited several places in Australia and New Zealand, all of which were amazing, but Sydney was probably the highlight of the trip.

Sydney is a diverse city with a wide range of activities as well as a great place to have a drink and people-watch. There’s much more to do than I was able to fit in but I was able to get a nice cross-section of what the city offers.

My first adventure was the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb which was amazing. Definitely not for those with a strong fear of heights but the tour is well-managed so you feel secure the entire time. At the top, you are 134 metres (or roughly 440 feet) above the Sydney Harbour and the view is spectacular. You can see the Opera House, downtown Sydney, and across the bay.

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Royal Caribbean Traditions, both New and Old

We are launching “The Sea is Calling, Answer it Royally” in the United States today, January 9^th. We hope and expect it will be a notable event in our brand’s history. While this is a major change in our communications, please note that we still cherish and express many traditions some of which date back over 40 years. These traditions are not going anywhere. We will discuss the new approach in other entries. Here I want to comment on a few of the traditions.

One of these is our crown and anchor symbol. If anything, we intend for our new marketing communications to draw even more attention to the crown and anchor. It clearly serves a very special role in conveying the quality and heritage of Royal Caribbean International.

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