Tag Archives: wi-fi

Royal Caribbean’s increase in on-board revenue attributed to cruise ship revitalizations

Posted on by
Reply

Royal Caribbean’s increase in on-board revenue attributed to cruise ship revitalizations

Royal Caribbean reported third quarter financial results today and the big “star” of the results was the onboard spending, with a 7% increase overall.  So what is Royal Caribbean’s secret?  They think it’s all about the revitalization program.

During the financial results conference call, Royal Caribbean Chief Financial Officer Jason Liberty pointed to a few key factors that are part of the fleet-wide renovations to why the company is seeing better guest spending onboard their ships.

  • Specialty Restaurants
  • Casino
  • Internet
  • Unlimited alcohol packages
  • Shore excursions

“We benefited from new onboard venues introduced as a result of our revitalizations, and we saw further strength in spending from our U.S. customers, which helped generate improvement in gaming, beverage, specialty dining and shore excursions,” Liberty said during the conference call.Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein elaborated on how the company is looking to get more onboard spending, “So as I believe we mentioned earlier, gaming, beverage, shore excursions, retail and also some of the smaller revenue streams, internet has been doing well for us, which we wanted to see because we made a significant investment in, I think, 7 or 8x more bandwidth to the ships this year, and that seems to be paying off.

So a number of the investments that we have already made, we would expect to continue to pay dividends and revenue growth into 2014 and beyond. And we continue to look under every stone for onboard revenue opportunities that don’t conflict with the satisfaction of the product offering.”Basically, guests are spending more money in all these aspects and most of these venues are areas of the cruise ships that get upgraded or added as part of the revitalization program.  When each ship is refurbished, more restaurants are added and wifi is spread out to more areas across the ship. Add to that the new drink packages and Royal Caribbean is offering its guests more opportunities to spend money.

Carnival Corp. reaches WiFi deal

Posted on by
Reply

Carnival Corp. reaches WiFi deal

By Tom Stieghorst
Harris CapRock said it won a five-year contract to provide telecommunications services to over 100 ships operated by Carnival Corp.’s 10 brands. Terms were not disclosed.

The satellite communications firm said its system will provide for “dramatically improved bandwidth levels.”

Carnival will get equipment, installation, maintenance, service, monitoring and support worldwide, Harris CapRock said.

Previously, telecom services on many Carnival Corp. ships were supplied by MTN Satellite Communications.

2 Norwegian ships to undergo refurbishments

Posted on by
Reply

2 Norwegian ships to undergo refurbishments

By Donna Tunney
Norwegian Cruise Line said that its Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Jade will enter drydocks this fall for multimillion dollar enhancements.

The Norwegian Spirit enters a 13-day drydock on Sept. 25 in Mobile, Ala. The 2,018-passenger ship will be fitted for WiFi and will receive new carpeting, flat-screen televisions and upgrades to the Stardust Theater and the Raffles restaurant.

When the ship returns to service Oct. 9 it will sail a series of seven-day western Caribbean itineraries from New Orleans, calling on Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Honduras; and Belize City, Belize, through April 8. The ship will then operate a 13-day transatlantic cruise, arriving in Barcelona on April 28, before beginning 12-day Mediterranean cruises alternating from Barcelona and Venice through Oct. 13, 2012. Beginning on Nov. 6, 2012, the ship will sail nine-day Canary Islands cruises from Barcelona, through April 8, 2013.

The Norwegian Jade will undergo its upgrades in Marseille, France, from Nov. 26 to Dec. 8. A Brazilian steakhouse, Moderno Churrascaria, will be added and new carpeting and tile will be installed throughout the ship. The ship will also receive technical enhancements, the line said.

After emerging from drydock, the 2,402-passenger Norwegian Jade, which sails year-round from Europe, will cruise a nine-day itinerary departing Barcelona calling on Funchal, Portugal; Tenerife and Arrecife in the Canary Islands; and .