RCCL Keeps Eye on Rome and Venice

Rome - The largest ship in the world, the Allure of the Seas, will arrive in Italy in 2015. International investments of over $5.2 billion for the construction of ships of ever higher quality will also reach Italian shores. And that’s not all that Dominic Paul, the International Vice-President for Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises has announced for Royal Caribbean’s 2014-2015 season. Among other news, are the three Quantum Class ships and the third Oasis Class ship: the first three stand out due to innovation, and the latter for its dimensions and the variety of features offered on board, like a robotic arm that will carry passengers up to 100 metres height above sea level, and virtual windows to allow personalization from the cabins. News and new investments are mainly about the Italian ports of Civitavecchia and Venice. Gianni Rotondo specified that this was “because of the presence of international airports.” Rotondo, who is the President of RCL Cruises Ltd Italy, explained that the choice of La Spezia as the main port of call in Liguria is “to do with replacing Livorno rather than Genoa, which is effectively being penalized because it lacks the necessary links with the rest of the world”. The Regional Administrative Court’s decision to suspend the limits on large cruise ships in Venice’s lagoon is a further point in favour of the Venetian capital. Mr. Paul, what did you think of the news? “It wasn’t possible to close Venice to cruise ships without providing an alternative way to enter the city, another way of reaching it without passing through the canals. Evidently we have reached a point that we consider to be important, in other words, the fact that cruise ships bring many benefits to the region, employment, investments, and a large number of tourists who spend money in the city. Not to allow cruise ships to enter would be a missed opportunity.” In terms of future prospects, is a fourth Oasis vessel already under construction? Do you intend to continue to build ships at Saint Nazaire or are you considering other shipyards? “There are so many options, even if for now all our energies are concentrated on the third Oasis and only in the future will we make decisions about the fourth one. When it comes to shipyards, we are open to alternatives, although it is certainly the case that once a certain type of ship has been built in a shipyard it is difficult to change.” With its new Quantum and Oasis Class ships, Royal is looking to the Mediterranean, but after North Africa and the Middle East, now the Black Sea has also become a hot zone. Will this affect your plans in any way? “One of the advantages of our sector is that the ships can always change their routes. If there are complications, the itineraries are flexible and can be changed very quickly. The problem is much thornier for someone who decides to build a hotel in one of these areas. In any case, the most important ports of call in the Mediterranean are all extremely safe: principally Spain, France and Italy.” And how is the Asian market doing? What projects do you have in Asia? “We have a significant presence in China, major business in Australia and a ship in Singapore. We see strong potential in this market, because the fact that we make a big investment in the quality of our ships goes over very well in Asia, where the clients like luxury and comfort.” You have previous experience in aviation, did you learn something there that you have brought with you into the cruise ship field, like for example, a particular idea about security? “I was very influenced in terms of security , especially considering that since 9/11 the aviation field has applied very restrictive security policies. Inspections on Royal Caribbean ships are actually exhaustive and the systems with which we have built the ships are very secure, which is not the case with every other company.” What is the future of the cruise ship industry according to you? “It is an industry that will continue to see significant growth in the next 10 years for various reasons: in the first place, because clients like the product and once they’ve tried it they usually want to repeat the experience; it is a very rich experience which combines travel and the beauty of the various ports of call with life on board a ship. Finally, cruises are appealing for strictly economic reasons, because everything is included in the price. And again, the numbers prove it: looking at the Italian market, ten years ago it was 300,000 people and now it has reached 869,000.” Irene Pugliese