NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Royal Caribbean’s chief executive yesterday expressed optimism that its homeporting arrangement to commence in June could be the beginning of something “new and exciting” for the long term, depending on customer response.
Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International’s president and chief executive, said during a video conference yesterday that the company believes there is pent-up demand for its Bahamas cruise package.
Royal Caribbean announced last Friday that it will set sail starting June 12 with cruise packages for The Bahamas and Mexico, marking the cruise line’s return to the Caribbean since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the cruise industry to a standstill last year. The cruise line announced a summer lineup of seven-night cruises aboard Adventure of the Seas, setting sail from its new homeport of Nassau.
When asked whether the homeporting arrangement could be long-term Bayley replied: ”We have an extensive fleet of ships for Royal Caribbean. We are deploying Adventure of the Seas from June through the end of September now.
”The real guidance for this will be the customer and the demand we see for the product. I think it could be the beginning of something quite interesting, quite exciting and something new.
”We believe there is a lot of pent-up demand. We will introduce a product and watch how the customers respond.
”We are very optimistic about this. I think it’s very much attached to the long-term future of The Bahamas as a destination with the work that’s going on in Nassau with the port development, with our investment at Perfect Day with Coco Cay and our investment in the future development of the Grand Lucayan in Freeport.
”These are all kinds of strong signals on how we see cruise development. I’m every [optimistic] and hope this can be the beginning of something really quite new.”
Bayley noted that Adventure of the Seas can accommodate 3,800 passengers at maximum capacity, although the cruise line intends to begin operating at around 50 percent.
“I think that as soon as we’re comfortable and the government’s comfortable, we will increase from 50 to 60 percent. I can tell you the interest being expressed by our customers is very powerful,” said Bayley.
Bayley also noted that the economic benefits of homeporting in Nassau would be significant.
“The economic stimulation that comes with homeporting ships is really quite vast. We will also fuel the ship in Freeport. There is a giant economic multiplier,” said Bayley.
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