One of the most debated topics when it comes to Royal Caribbean is where it decides to deploy its fleet. Royal Caribbean's CEO Adam Goldstein shared some insight into the process of determining where and why its cruise ships are sent for any given season.
The process begins with the group of people whose job it is to figure it all out. Adam Goldstein is joined by Royal Caribbean's Director of Deployment and Itinerary Planning Chris Allen and Royal Caribbean's VP of Corporate Planning Jason Liberty. Both of their teams coordinate with Adam to figure out the best plan of action.
Allen's team identifies the right place for each ship on each day of each year as well as understanding the economics (i.e., profitability) of every decision Royal Caribbean make with their fleet. Meanwhile Liberty's group evaluates ship profitability from its own perspective.
Goldstein summarized the 2012 fleet deployment as follows
- 11 ships in Europe
- 2 ships in Asia
- 2 ships in Alaska
- 2 ships in the Northeast U.S
- 2 ships in the Bahamas
- 3 ships in the Caribbean
Adam did concede a mistake Royal Caribbean made when it announced Voyager of the Seas deployment to China, specifically not preparing customers who had booked Voyager of the Seas previously as well as their travel agents. Adam promises a mistake like this will not happen again.
