Hello and welcome to the 2017 liveblog from the State of the Industry panel from Seatrade Cruise Global.
The event is set to begin at 0930 eastern time.
Archived Live Blog
That does it for this live blog. Make sure to keep checking
our twitter twitter.com/cruiseind for updates from the show floor.
Thanks!
Fain: historically it’s the bad things that keeps us up at night. The pace of change is extraordinary.
Donald: We have things going so good, I hope these guys don;t mess it up. (huge laughs and applause)
And geopolitical tensions. Really the only things that prevents is when people are prevented from traveling.
Donald: We have things going so good, I hope these guys don;t mess it up. (huge laughs and applause)
And geopolitical tensions. Really the only things that prevents is when people are prevented from traveling.
Del Rio: I have the youngest fleet, so it’s geopolitical events. I wake up and hope there’s no headline news.
Vago: Shipping is a 24×7 business. (so true. I know from experiance)
Vago: We are looking at the brighter side. You must have the humility and ability to look at the other side of things.
Final question: What’s keeping you up at night.
Fain: Not too much. Maybe it’s excitement. Ind has found a
groove. We’ve done a good job communication what cruising’s about.
Vago: We follow the trends. Whether it’s China or Cuba.
Rio: All of us has gone to Cuba. It can be a major force in the cruise business. I hope the administration sees this. They are pro business.
Donald: Its in the best interest to bring people together. Who knows what the administration will bring us. Like Frank, I want the embargo lifted.
Rio: The Trump administration is good for businesses (not sure everyone else on stage shares his view).
Future Policies enacted in the government:
Donald: Too early to tell. We pay taxes everywhere in the world. We have to wait and see.
Vago: I don’t think the problem is in Washington. From the regulatory size, it’s not Washington.
Fain: Governments are unpredictable today. People are seeing the eco benefit that we’re contributing to society
What’s driving the business?
Donald: People love cruising. People cant stop talking about it. And we now do a reasonable job promoting it
Rio: Customers are happy, we’ve had the ‘Trump’ effect.Economy is good.
Fain now off, and the 4 CEO panel begins with Susan Li from CNBC
Our objective isn’t to prove we were right, its’ to avoid in the first place. It provided a calming impact to the dialogue going on.
We equip our safety officers with body cams (smart idea)
We shouldn’t be so naive to think that It couldn’t happen here. We have to stop thinking people won’t stop acting like a human onboard
Thousands of guests and crew relay on us for their safety.
Now discussion the perfect dedication to safety.
Royal Caribbean recently announced a large partnership with the World Wildlife Fund
Now talking about waste water purification standard. Our engineers like to show off by drinking the water.
Now talking about putting scrubbers on ships. All ships have these now as a way to cope with the new emission regulations in the US.
A simple solution is to keep them at cold temperatures then keep them onboard until they can get to a recycling center.
I like to state, we have the coolest garbage in the world
ISM states that they have to get rid of it at the next port even if it winds up just in a landfill.
An example is the wine bottles onboard a ship. They want to crush them and recycle them. Bottles of wine when crushed fosters bacteria.
Its better to achieve zero than ambiguous terms.
All Royal Caribbean ships have an environmental officer. (to be fair, other lines have that)
This focus on the environment forces us to run a tighter ship
To do things line minimizing out co2 footprint. to be more efficient, we save money, provide better for our customers, but we also protect the environment.
We make our living from the ocean
We are committed to creating ethical, sustainable environments onboard ships
The term Floating Cities fosters the community onboard. It’s not a marketing ploy
On environment we don’t compete.
As a base to what the previous speakers talked about, I get to talk about the base of it all.
I get to talk about something I feel passionate about.
Fain will talk about environmental
Del Rio off and now Richard Fain of Royal Caribbean on.
Libya, Egypt, Turkey, and Black Sea are all uncruiseable
Can’t tell if this is a political statement
Today our biggest threat comes from geopolitical events. These events when they occur, they instantly affect itineraries and by an large, the bottom line
Cruise lines look to expand elsewhere, Cuba, or make their own ports, Harvest Cay
Fleet expansions is outpacing port infrastructure. As a result the ports become congested.
Top 4 most important influences in port determination:
Travel agents
Port agents
Excursion Operators
Social Media
They critically influence onboard revenue
Today should be a very good booking day for us (ref the show storm in the northeast)
The third quarter is the highest yield you get. That’s because of Alaska and Europe.
Comparing Baltic yields, where you can get $300 per day whereas Caribbean only get’s you $100
82% of a reason for choosing a cruise is Destination and itinerary
Where, is truly critical. Otherwise we’d all be offering cruises to nowhere
..and most importantly, they make alot of money
Rio: I’m the self proclaimed itinerary planning guy at NCL
Vago off, and Frank Del Rio from NCL is on stage
Vago is wrapping up his presentation.
Talking about how he’s moving as many spaces and outdoor areas lower in the ship so he can go higher with accommodations.
Vago is discussing Archimedes’ principle, Solas’ safe return to port, and firezones.
You can tell he get’s into this kind of stuff. And it shows. That’s why he has the most cutting edge ships on order.
The QE2 makes an appearance in his slides !!
Going over MSC Seaside and how the engines are placed in the center of the ships.
Vago is discussing how you create a platform to build a ship
Next slide is the orderbook, including other brands. Of course MSC has the most ships on order 😉
Pointing out the sheer growth in the size of the ships, but how it’s slowed down the past few years, but the orders keep coming through
Now showing a slide that displays the evolution of their fleet
About to show a slide but the wrong one is up. Whoops
Vago will discuss the shipbuilding and design in the industry
Donald off the stage and MSC Cruises Pierfrancesco Vago takes the stage
I’ve heard millennials say that Alaska is Colorado on steroids.
Carnival CEO in Antarctica rocking a Bow tie (Epic photo)
Now detailing Ocean platform featuring Ocean medallion.
Has gigabytes behind the scenes powering the guest experiance
He and his wife also did an Antarctic cruise on Seabourn.
Donald himself had his family reunion cruise onbard a HAL ship
Donald is now going over the different brands and the type of cruises that go onbard those brands
Innovation is without a guest knowing, they’re part of a community (on a ship) (excellent point)
I want to tell you how I’m going to approach innovation at Carnival. At Carnival we want to create human connection. And we want to increase it and decrease it.
No one has to take a cruise. It’s purely discretionary.
There’s no question that this industry of build on dreams
And video is over. It’s the same one that’s on Youtube
At carnival woven into the fabric, is innovation. Donald is now playing the Ocean Medallion video.
The industry is all about innovation
We’re all here this morning to celebrate the industry
Arnold Donald takes the stage to a roar of applause! He will be discussing Technology and innovation.
Cindy leaves the stage and Andy from Seatrade back out.
Remember one thing: To be an advocate, to work for every business. To have you voice hear we must act as one!
in 10 years Asia has the potential to surpass North America
Special focus on the special attention that Asia is getting.
$117 billion to local economies CLIA estimates
In 10 years there’s been a 62% increase in demand for cruising.
No sings of this growth slowing down
CLIA has been very active in conferences this year. They also released a report to travel agents to detail trends to assist them.
CLIA was also successful with lobbying against to tax increases in ports that would have affected cruise passengers.
Video playing going over what CLIA has been able to to to grow the industry
Our mission is to represent one industry and one voice
Cindy is discussing CLIA’s involvement in Mercy Ships.
“It’s only been a year since I was recognized as CLIA’s CEO”
Cindy D’Aoust, CLIA CEO takes the stage
CLIA, FCCA and Hong Kong tourism board are the official sponsors.
Mercy Ships gets a special shout-out. (very nice!)
Now they’re thanking the sponsors and going over what the game plan will be for the show.
Event will be a bit different this year. Each “titan of the industry” will each give their presentation THEN they will sit together
Event starting.
50 Billion dollars of cruise ships on the order book
Event starting. A video from Honk Kong tourism board is playing
About to take the stage will be CEO’s from the top 4 lines
Arnold Donald (CCL)
Richard Fain (RCL)
Frank Del Rio (NCL)
Pierfrancesco Vago(MSC)
And we’re inside! only about 15 more minutes
CruiseInd finally made it to Ft Lauderdale. Make sure to check back later this morning for coverage from the panel.