Friday, September 25, 2015

Cruise Industry Continuing to Positively Impact Europe’s Economy

Europe’s cruise industry again delivered a major economic boost Europe’s economy last year, but it’s slowing, and unless things change, growth in future years may disappear.

Details appeared in the September 25 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Will You Feel Like a NASCAR Driver?

OK, this technically is not a cruise story, but you can use this for your cruise. It will get you two free pieces of luggage and, if you fly to your cruise, it will get your airline baggage fees paid.

The complete story appeared in the September 25 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Royal Caribbean Announces Change to Safety, Environment and Health Team

Gary Bald, SVP of Safety, Security, Environment, Medical/Public Health, sets retirement for 2016 and will guide new SVP Jennifer Love during transition

MIAMI, Sept. 25, 2015 -- Royal Caribbean today announced that Gary Bald, Senior Vice President, Safety, Security, Environment, Medical/Public Health and Situation Management for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., will transition his duties to top corporate and federal security executive Jennifer Love as he prepares for his retirement in the Spring of 2016. Love will join Royal Caribbean on September 28, 2015.

Bald has been with Royal Caribbean since 2006, overseeing environmental practices and stewardship as well as the safety, security and health of the company's 62,000 employees, more than five million guests annually, its fleet of 43 cruise ships and its shoreside facilities and terminals.

"Gary has been a key figure in the development of Royal Caribbean's approach to safety, environment and health, and an important leader who has made significant contributions to the entire cruise industry," said Adam Goldstein, President and COO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "Gary's leadership has enhanced the safety and security of our guests, crew and employees. We are privileged to have had Gary at Royal Caribbean"

Goldstein added: "We are very excited to have Jennifer Love join our team. I am confident Jennifer's skills and expertise will build on our momentum and take our company to even greater advances in our preparedness, procedures and systems."

Love spent nearly 25 years at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where she gained broad experience and received numerous honors and awards for her exemplary leadership in both national security and criminal financial law enforcement. Most recently, Love headed the enterprise-wide security programs and process for the Cablevision Systems Corporation and served as the company's chief liaison to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

"I am delighted to join Royal Caribbean, a company renowned for innovation and continuous improvement," Love said. "I look forward to working with the talented team to take Royal Caribbean to the next level."

Among Love's honors are the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive Service in 2010, and the National Association for Advancement of Colored People, Community Leader Award in 2009.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE, OSE: RCL) is a global cruise vacation company that owns Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Club Cruises and CDF Croisières de France, as well as TUI Cruises through a 50 percent joint venture. Together, these six brands operate a combined total of 43 ships with an additional six under construction contracts, and two on firm order. They operate diverse itineraries around the world that call on approximately 490 destinations on all seven continents. Additional information can be found at www.RCLcorporate.com.

Source: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Royal Caribbean’s Youngest Crown & Anchor Member

You seldom hear about a baby being born on a cruise ship. The reason for that is that they all have rules and they won’t let a pregnant woman travel anywhere near her due date.

And then there was the family from Ogden, Utah, who sailed aboard Independence of the Seas last month to celebrate their daughter’s third birthday. The mom was only about halfway through her pregnancy with their next child, and the doctor cleared her to travel; there had been no problems with the pregnancy. Still when the ship arrived in Puerto Rico, there was an extra passenger aboard, and everyone involved understood what a miracle was. But there’s more to the story.

Details appeared in the September 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Is a Delisted Stock Like an Unlisted Phone Number?

As was approved by their shareholders at their last annual meeting, Royal Caribbean today filed to have their stock delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Thus ends a piece of the company’s history.

The complete story appeared in the September 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Ron Phillips to Join Carnival as SVP of Human Resouces

Ron L. Phillips named Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Lines

MIAMI (September 24, 2015) -- Ron L. Phillips has been appointed Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Office of People and Potential for Carnival Cruise Line. In this capacity, Phillips will oversee shoreside and shipboard human resources for the world's largest cruise line, including talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, human capital planning, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, and performance management. Phillips begins his new role effective October 19 and will report to Carnival President Christine Duffy.

Phillips has nearly 20 years of HR experience, most recently serving as Chief Human Resources Officer for New York Presbyterian Hospital, which encompasses seven major hospitals, 23,000 employees and 6,000 affiliated physicians. Prior to that he spent eight years in human resource roles at Comcast, eventually rising to the position of Senior Vice President of Human Resources. He has also served in HR roles at Ryder Transportation and McDonald's Corporation.

"Ron brings a wealth of HR experience to his new role and we look forward to his leadership skills as we work toward continued unification of our shipboard and shoreside HR functions and strive to provide an exceptional workplace for our more than 38,000 employees worldwide," said Duffy.

Phillips has a B.S. degree from Virginia State University and a Law Degree from the University of Richmond.

Source: Carnival Cruise Lines

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

You Can Go Home Again

Carnival and the City of Mobile jointly made it official today and announced Carnival had contracted to operate cruises from the city’s cruise terminal beginning late next year for at least a year.

But there's backstory that includes the agreements and what the city still doesn't get about the relationship.

The complete story appeared in the September 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - Special Carnival Corp Edition - September 23, 2015

CND Subscribers also read about:
  • How Carnival's financial results for the quarter can be summed up in once sentence
  • What China has done for you - how they have made your next cruise more expensive
  • Your choice of Caribbean itineraries used to be Eastern, Western or Southern. Carnival has now added "Central."
Details appeared in the September 23 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

The Shape of Things to Come

Costa has completely revamped their loyalty program, called Costa Club, for 2016. There are some nice benefits, especially as you proceed up the tiers (which they divide into separate clubs), and some unique benefits at their top level. What caught our eye though is a subtle change that we predicted several years ago, and Costa is the first to implement it, that we think is soon going to be adopted by other lines, and it will change your benefits.

The complete story appeared in the September 22 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Mobile Gets Their Ship

AL.com reports that the Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Carnival officials have scheduled a joint press conference Wednesday at the cruise terminal to announce that a Carnival ship will return to the city.

The complete story appeared in the September 22 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Norwegian Escape Completes River Trip at Eemshaven

The 164,000-ton Norwegian Escape left Meyer Werft Friday afternoon (September 18, 2015) for its slow trip down the Ems River to Eemshaven where it will take on provisions before leaving on sea trials. The ship sails slowly because it is traveling backwards (for better maneuverability) and must squeeze through vary narrow passages. In places the 169-foot-wide ship goes through passages that are only 173-feet wide. The ship traveled all night and arrived Eemshaven Saturday morning at 8:30an. It will remain at Eemshaven until Thursday when it leaves for sea trials in the North Sea.

The complete story appeared in the September 21 edition of Cruise News Daily.




Video courtesy of Meyer Werft.

There She Goes

Several months ago we told you that Kate McCue would be the first American woman to captain a cruise ship when she took command of Celebrity Summit. By now she has, and the ship has embarked on its first voyage. CBS news went aboard to do the profile we have below.