Top bosses at Royal Caribbean Cruises are taking six-month pay cuts amid the coronavirus crisis.
Chairman and chief executive Richard Fain have agreed to forego payment of his base salary, estimated to be worth more than $1 million.
Chief financial officer Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean International chief executive Michael Bayley and Celebrity Cruises counterpart Lisa Lutoff-Perlo have each elected to reduce their respective base salaries by 25% until September 30.
“These reductions were made in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the negative financial and operational impacts resulting therefrom,” the company said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Royal Caribbean Cruises extended the suspension of sailings of its global fleet last week until May 12 with Alaska, Canada and New England sailings not expected to resume until July 1.
Royal Caribbean Cruises will deliver a million protective surgical masks into China as the country battles to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Richard Fain, the chairman and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Cruises, said the cruise company would work with suppliers to deliver the N-95 protective masks to China for the country’s government.
Face masks are reportedly selling out in cities across Asia as concerns over the virus grow.
More than 1,300 people are known to have died from the virus, including six health workers in China.
Local authorities in the country have reportedly struggled to provide protective equipment such as respiratory masks and goggles in hospitals, according to the BBC.
Fain said: “We admire the all-out efforts of the Chinese government and people to address this crisis and we want to bring our resources to bear to help their efforts.”
Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive Michael Bayley said the line would move a ship to China to carry out a series of complimentary sailings to thank medical personnel once the virus outbreak had ended.
Royal has also revealed that Spectrum of the Seas will offer complimentary cruises sailing from Sydney for Australia’s first responder community and Celebrity Millennium will provide ex-US sailings for firefighters in California following the wildfires.
As the cruise industry sails into the third decade of the 21st century, the signs of its vitality are everywhere.
New entrants are flocking to the business. Established players have record booking curves. Big networks of cruise vacation advisors are growing. Competition is healthy but not cutthroat. And cruise lines are spending more than ever before to modernize their older ships.
Cruise line executives are optimistic, none more so than 30-year industry veteran Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
“We expect to end this year with more revenue on the books than ever before, with very high booked load factors at very attractive pricing,” Fain told Wall Street analysts in October. “All of that bodes well for an attractive 2020.”
Perhaps no development demonstrates the vitality of today’s cruise industry more than the growth of expedition cruising. No fewer than nine expedition ships from seven cruise lines are expected to arrive in 2020.
And everyone wants in. Luxury names such as Crystal and Seabourn as well as Viking Ocean Cruises are all preparing to add expedition capacity to their portfolios.
Brands with cachet in other parts of the hospitality business are putting capital into the cruise arena. Virgin is adding ships to its existing plane, train and hotel brands, with Virgin Voyages set to launch in April.
And sprawling Marriott International, through its Ritz-Carlton brand, will rejoin the cruise industry with the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, 25 years after giving up its previous cruising venture, a part interest in Sun Line. Ritz-Carlton’s 298-passenger, ultraluxury vessel, the Evrima, is scheduled to debut in June.
The yacht-like Windstar ships are being stretched and relaunched by owner Xanterra.
The supersizing of refurbishments is another demonstration of cruise vitality. Royal Caribbean International just completed a $165 million rejuvenation of the Oasis of the Seas, and Norwegian Cruise Line plans to spend $100 million next year on its 22-year-old Norwegian Spirit.
“This is the most extensive revitalization in our company’s 50-year history,” Norwegian chief sales officer Katina Athanasiou told an audience at CruiseWorld in November.
Continued innovation is another hallmark of vital industries. In August, the 5,282-passenger Carnival Mardi Gras will debut, the first liquefied natural gas-powered cruise ship to sail in North America and the first to have a roller coaster onboard.
The coaster follows hard on the heels of go-kart tracks and sky diving simulators developed by rival lines. As Carnival Cruise Line gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2022, it is still finding new homeports from which to sail. Next year it will deploy the Carnival Miracle to San Francisco, its 19th domestic homeport, where it will offer cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska.
Cruise selling is also a dynamic contributor to the vitality of the cruise sector. At its recent annual convention in Hollywood, Fla., Cruise Planners celebrated its growth into a powerhouse of 2,500 franchises nationwide.
“From 2015 to 2019, we’ve doubled our sales,” Cruise Planners CEO Michelle Fee said.
Even corners of the cruise industry that were once endangered are prospering. In 2007, Carnival Corp. sold the diminutive Windstar Cruises to Ambassadors International, and the sail-powered line fell into bankruptcy during the Great Recession.
It was rescued in 2011 by Xanterra Parks and Resorts, which bought three 212-passenger ships from Seabourn to expand the fleet.
Now those ships themselves are being expanded. Windstar has budgeted $250 million to cut each of the former Seabourn ships in half and insert an 84-foot block of new cabins and public areas into the middle.
The process was started in October with the Star Breeze, which also got new engines and a larger fuel tank. The schedule calls for a similar stretching of the Star Legend and Star Pride to be completed by November.
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