For many years, Royal Caribbean has been absent from offering cruises on the west coast of the United States and that has many fans wondering when that would change.
Royal Caribbean senior vice president, sales, trade support and service, Vicki Freed, spoke with Travel Agent Central about the possibility of Royal Caribbean returning to the west coast.
Freed pointed at the fiscal situation of offering cruises on the west coast, "We always look at the West Coast. But we continue to look at the rates that the other cruise lines are getting, and we offer an experience that we can't afford to be selling at those low rates."
"If when we see the rates start to bounce back, and we feel we can get paid for what we offer for our product, then we’ll be back there. But right now, unfortunately, it's a bath out there. They're selling four-day cruises at $199 per person and we’re not just talking Carnival."
"We spend more on food, more on entertainment and more on our overall onboard experience [than other lines] and so we cannot be the low-price leader out in any market."
Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas left Los Angeles back in 2011 due to violence in Mexico as well as to find bigger profits.
