Tag Archives: Richard Fain

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian to Partner on Health Protocols

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RCL and NCL Logos

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced a collaboration to “develop enhanced cruise health and safety standards in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic,” according to a press release.

The companies have asked Governor Mike Leavitt and Dr Scott Gottlieb to serve as co-chairs of a newly formed group of experts called the “Healthy Sail Panel.”

The panel is tasked with collaboratively developing recommendations for cruise lines to advance their public health response to COVID-19, improve safety, and achieve readiness for the safe resumption of operations, according to a press release.

The expert panel has been working for nearly a month and will offer its initial recommendations by the end of August.

The cruise lines said its work will be “open source,” and could be freely adopted by any company or industry that would benefit from the group’s scientific and medical insights.

“This unprecedented disease requires us to develop unprecedented standards in health and safety,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group. “Bringing aboard these respected experts to guide us forward demonstrates our commitment to protecting our guests, our crews and the communities we visit.”

“We compete for the vacationing consumer’s business every day, but we never compete on health and safety standards,” said Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “While the cruise industry has always had rigorous health standards, the unique challenges posed by COVID-19 provide an opportunity to raise the bar even higher.”

Fain and Del Rio said they initiated the panel to assure the plans they will submit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other regulators apply the best available public health, science and engineering insights. The work of the panel will be shared with the entire industry and regulators.

“In convening the Healthy Sail Panel, we sought the participation of a diverse group of leading experts in areas of science and public health that are directly relevant to the considerations listed by the No Sail Order,” said Governor Leavitt. “We view our work as a profoundly important public health effort. The health and safety of passengers, crew, and the communities that cruise ships visit will be the principal focus of this project.”

Dr Gottlieb said, “We know that the public health issues that must be addressed are complex, and in some areas, tackling them will require novel approaches. Our goal in assembling this team of leading experts was to develop best practices that can improve safety and provide a roadmap for reducing the risks of COVID-19.”

The panel is co-chaired by Governor Leavitt, former Secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services (HHS), and Dr Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The panel’s members are globally recognized experts from various disciplines, including public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime operations.

 

$14 Million for Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Fain

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Richard Fain, chairman and CEO

Royal Caribbean Cruises reported executive compensation for a record 2019 financial year in a Friday evening SEC filing, just two days following the announcement the company was laying off approximately 26 percent of its U.S. workforce.

CEO and Chairman Richard Fain saw a $14.4 million payday in 2019, mostly driven by stock awards. Fain has agreed to forgo his base salary through September of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other key company executives also enjoyed a robust pay check-in 2019, with Michael Bayley, president and CEO of the Royal Caribbean brand, taking in just over $7 million, up from $5.7 million the year prior.

Lisa Lutoff Perlo, president and CEO, Celebrity Cruises, saw compensation at $4.4 million.

The company noted it will consider the business and financial impact to the company, shareholders and employees in evaluating 2020 performance in early 2021, citing COVID-19.

Compensation Table:

Arne Wilhelmsen, A Founder of Royal Caribbean, Passes Away

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Arne Wilhelmsen

Arne Wilhelmsen, a founder of Royal Caribbean Cruises, died Saturday, April 11, 2020, in Palma, Spain. He was 90.

Wilhelmsen was a constant influence on the company from its founding, serving more than three decades on the company’s board of directors, the company said.

Together with the company’s first CEO, the late Edwin Stephan, Wilhelmsen saw possibilities for the nascent cruise industry that others did not.

“At a time when the rest of the world thought cruising was a niche use for old transatlantic liners, Arne was already seeing glimmers of the growth that was possible,” said Richard Fain, RCL’s chairman and CEO. “He had a vision of the modern cruise industry when the ‘industry’ might have been a dozen used ships, total.”

Their key insight: building new ships uniquely designed for cruising in warm weather. The industry did not grow from New York, the traditional transit hub; it came to Miami, helping the region itself grow as the public discovered an entirely new way to take a vacation.

Wilhelmsen saw the potential for cruising to become the fastest-growing segment in a growing vacation industry. A believer in economies of scale, he once recalled: “My initial challenge was to convince my partners and management in Miami to build bigger and more efficient ships in order to grow the company.”

True to his vision, the company now sails 61 ships calling on all seven continents and its fleet features the largest cruise ships in the world.

Born on June 15, 1929, in Oslo, Norway, Wilhelmsen earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and worked as a chartering assistant for Norway’s EB Lund & Co. and later as a shipbroker in New York. After joining the family business in 1954, he became its president in 1961. The scion of a leading Norwegian shipping concern – Anders Wilhelmsen & Co AS – he spent most of his life in the family business, including an early stint as a deckhand.

“Arne was a steady presence and source of wisdom on our board for decades,” Fain said. “And in 2003, when he was ready to step back, he was succeeded on the RCL board by his son, Alex, who has carried the involvement of the Wilhelmsen family in charting our company’s course into its sixth decade. Our high standards as a company, our insistence on excellence in operations and design, and our determination to persevere all owe a great deal to the long-term vision of Arne, Alex and the Wilhelmsen family. We salute our friend, and we will miss him dearly.”