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Royal Caribbean's Vicki Freed wins hospitality legend award

In:
24 Oct 2012

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, was recognized by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) South Florida with the chapter’s Hospitality Legend award.

Freed oversees Royal Caribbean's sales department as well as Royal Caribbean's Trade Support and Services division. She also leads the Loyal to You Always committment to the travel agent community.

Carmen Ackerman, President of HSMAI South Florida, presented Freed with the award during the association's Best in Hospitality banquet to benefit the HSMAI South Florida scholarship fund for future hospitality leaders.

In her community, Vicki serves on the board of the Jewish Adoption and Foster Care Options (JAFCO) and she is a trustee of the United Way of Miami-Dade County. Previously, she served on the Florida Commission on Tourism for ten years, the board of directors for the South Florida Chapter of Make-a-Wish Foundation for nine years and the board of directors for the Association for Travel Marketing Executives.

Royal Caribbean wins training award

In:
03 Oct 2012

Royal Caribbean has been awarded a Peer Award for Excellence for its online Cruising for Excellence training platform in the Technology for People category.

Royal Caribbean's Cruising for Excellence program is an online option for travel agents to give a realistic onboard experience, which allows agencies to show off its ships to their agents without having to bring all those agents physically onto a ship. 

Royal Caribbean trade training manager Michelle Russell commented on the win, "I am exceptionally proud of each and every member of the trade training team who all deserve a share of this prestigious award.Our trade partners are vital to our brand’s continued growth and we are committed to supporting them with training, ship visits and innovative marketing. Consistent trade feedback on Cruising for Excellence has been fantastic and the investment in training to bring our ships to life continues to convert yet more agents to be great Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises ambassadors. This award is a reflection of that I am honored that the judging panel at the Peer Awards for Excellence recognizes our efforts and the quality of our offering."

Cruising for Excellence has so far trained over 20,000 travel agents since its 2006 launch. It is now available in 13 different languages.

Royal Caribbean wins fifteen 2012 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards

In:
07 Sep 2012

Travel Weekly has awarded Royal Caribbean 15 Magellan Awards for the year.  Radiance of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas were singled out among the awards along with Royal Caribbean's "The Sea is Calling" advertising campaign.

“We are much honored to be recognized again by Travel Weekly’s distinguished panel of industry experts and judges,” said Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of Global Sales and Marketing, Royal Caribbean International. “We are particularly encouraged that revitalized Radiance of the Seas won Gold for Overall Contemporary Ship. Radiance of the Seas is a glowing example of our ongoing ship revitalizations to introduce some of the most popular Oasis-class amenities across the fleet and make every ship our best ship for vacationers to enjoy.”

Gold Magellan Awards

  • Radiance of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship
  • Oasis of the Seas - Overall - Eco-Friendly "Green" Cruise Ship 
  • The Sea is Calling - Advertising/Marketing Campaign 
  • The Sea is Calling - TV Commercial 
  • The Sea is Calling... - Vicki Print Advertising 
  • Oasis’ 150 Central Park - Contemporary Ship - Restaurant Design 
  • DreamWorks Experience - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
  • Hairspray - Contemporary Ship - Entertainment 
  • Royal Promenade -Contemporary Ship - Atrium Design 
  • Royal Loft Suites - Contemporary Ship - Suite Design

Silver Magellan Awards :

  • Allure of the Seas - Overall - Contemporary Ship 
  • Sea Views - Overall - Blog 
  • Crown & Anchor Society - Overall - Loyalty Program 
  • Vitality at Sea Spa - Contemporary Ship - Spa Design 
  • Madagascar 3 - Web Marketing/Advertising

Royal Caribbean comes in first of American cruise lines in use of advanced marketing

In:
29 Aug 2012

Market21, a leading advisory firm in the use of advanced marketing tools, ranks Royal Caribbean first in the use of advanced marketing among American cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean won on overall strength of performance. Some other lines were leaders in specific areas, but Royal Caribbean posted a strong across the board performance. They will have to remain on guard to keep up with competitors moving ahead with innovations such as: Norwegian, Crystal, and Disney.

Market21 used the Cruise Line Marketing Review, which measures 12 domestic lines against 18 criteria to determine how well they were performing using the current technologies, and how well they are prepared to move up to the newer technologies as they develop.

The report shows the strengths and weaknesses of the individual lines and the opportunities that are possible for both the individual lines and the industry as a whole. Reaching out to the customer in the manner in which they expect/desire to be addressed is important for current customers and to expand the customer base.

Royal Caribbean honored in 2012 Travel+Leisure magazine's World's Best Awards

In:
13 Jul 2012

Travel+Leisure magazine has posted their annual awards for the best travel in the world, and Royal Caribbean made the list.

For the category of "Top Large Cruise Ships", Royal Caribbean made the #9 spot.

Here are the full results

  1. Crystal Cruises 89.90
  2. Regent Seven Seas 89.36
  3. Azamara Club Cruises 87.31
  4. Oceania Cruises 86.05
  5. Disney Cruise Line 84.96
  6. Cunard Line 83.26
  7. Celebrity Cruises 81.61
  8. Holland America Line 80.37
  9. Royal Caribbean 79.40
  10. Princess Cruises 79.08

Royal Caribbean's ninth spot finish was identical to last year's awards, although its score did dip slightly from last year.  Sister companies Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises placed in the list as well, with Azamara moving up one spot from last year.

The scores are results of reader surveys from the Travel+Leisure Magazine.

2012 Royal Caribbean International Hospitality Awards presented

In:
07 Jul 2012

Bermuda's Minister of Business Development and Tourism, Wayne Furbert presented the 2012 Royal Caribbean International Hospitality Awards on board the Celebrity Summit. Royal Caribbean's Vice-President of Government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, Michael Ronan joined other members of Bermuda's government to present the awards.

The winners of the Hospitality Awards were

  • Nikhil Hassell, who received $5000 and is attending Johnson and Wales University in Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Dwayne Fubler, who recieved $10,000 and is attending Florida International University
  • Simon Benevides, who received $5,000 and is attending the University of Guelph, Ontatio, Canada

“To date, this program has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship funds to 65 young Bermudians to assist them in tourism related studies,” said the Minister. “I am pleased to join with Royal Caribbean in awarding three deserving young Bermudians with scholarships.”

The Minister concluded by saying the Government is committed to helping young Bermudians achieve excellence in the hospitality industry. “This initiative celebrates that achievement and I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Royal Caribbean Cruise Line International for their significant contribution and support that they continue to share.”

Royal Caribbean wins 2012 Canadian Travel Press Agents’ Choice Awards

In:
28 Jun 2012

Royal Caribbean has once again won first prize in the 2012 Canadian Travel Press Agents’ Choice Awards, which is the ninth consecutive year that's occured.

Royal Caribbean Canada director of sales and marketing Lisa Connell commented on the honor, "We are thrilled to receive such a special award from our valued travel agent partners who help make Royal Caribbean International one of the world’s top global cruise brands. It’s been an exciting year with the introduction of a dedicated sales team catering to Canadian travel agents and vacationers in order to further Royal Caribbean International success in this market.”

“We are honored to be recognized as the top cruise line for the ninth consecutive year by our valued travel agent partners in Canada,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of Sales, Trade Support and Services, Royal Caribbean International. “This recognition re-affirms our ongoing and unwavering support of the travel agent community - what we call Loyal to You Always. Our commitment to building meaningful relationships through personal interaction with travel agents is one of the ways that sets Royal Caribbean apart.”

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain awarded Personality of the Year

In:
15 May 2012

Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain was awarded the Seatrade Personality of the Year 2012 award at a dinner held at London's Guildhall.

About 400 people witnessed the 24th annual Seatrade Awards, which is a shipping industry event that recognizes companies in the areas of safety at sea, clean shipping and innovation, as well as individuals that make significant contributions to the shipping industry.

Seatrade chairman Chris Hayman spoke about why Fain deserves the award, "through his exceptional leadership and perseverance Royal Caribbean has blossomed in different directions to become a global cruise company operating 40 ships under the Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France brands."

Fain was praised for two achievements at Royal Caribbean: Overseeing the remarkable development in the hardware of the product, ‘not just size and volume but the transformation of the onboard experience incorporating elements that no one would have even dreamt about 25 years ago’; and secondly globalisation, both in deployment of cruise ships and sourcing of passengers. ‘Under his leader ship the company has moved ships to Asia, Middle East, South America and other parts of the world which are now all considered as major destinations and sources of passenger growth,’ he added.

Fain accepted the award and offered a few words of thanks for the honor, "I take this award with great humility. To receive this honor from Seatrade, handed to me by the IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu, is very much a reminder of how important it is that each and every one of us in this great industry to which I have devoted my business career, maintains a high level of excellence."

"I am unusual in this room in that there are not many people who have crossed over from real shipping to cruising. When I first joined Royal Caribbean 90% of our ships sailed from Miami, within a few minutes reach of our offices, now more than 50% of our business is coming from outside the US."

Royal Caribbean wins award for best Middle East cruise line

In:
04 May 2012

Royal Caribbean has been awarded the title of "Middle East's Leading Cruise Line" once again by the World Travel Awards.  This marks the third consecutive win for Royal Caribbean.  

The 19th annual World Travel Awards gala event took place on April 30th, 2012 at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa in Dubai, and was attended by hundreds of travel executives from around the world.

Helen Beck, Royal Caribbean's Regional Director, commented on the award, "Our crew is focused on delivering a great vacation experience and personalising the service they provide to each and every one of our guests. In fact, this year marks the ten year anniversary of our ‘Gold Anchor Service’ programme, which is the framework for delivering the Royal Caribbean International experience. Our guests consistently tell us that this type of special interaction with our crew and the exceptional service they receive creates memories that last a lifetime and are the reason they keep coming back to us."

Royal Caribbean wins award for its call center

In:
23 Apr 2012

Royal Caribbean was awarded the "Team of the Year" award in the 2012 Call Center Management Association Awards.  The award recognizes, " the excellence and first class performance of the guest and trade services call center team of the collective cruise line business."

Royal Caribbean beat our competitors including Aviva, Barclaycard, DHL, Asda and Virgin.

Head of guest and trade services Michelle Johnson said: “This is the second year Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises have entered the Call Centre Management Association Awards and the second year that we’ve walked away with one of the night’s top awards.

“It’s a great reflection of the hard work carried out by the whole team and a true recognition of our dedication and commitment to ensuring our guests are number one in everything we do.

“This award firmly places our business as one of the leading customer service organisations out there and I couldn’t be prouder of the team.”

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