Latest Cruise Message from Richard Fain! ⚓️ CEO of Royal Caribbean 🌴🏖🦩⚓️🐬🌴

Are you as confused as I am? You know, I've enjoyed making these short videos, and ironically, it's been a great educational experience for me. Preparing for them has helped me organize my own thoughts, and I always seem to learn something new in the process. Thank you all for giving me that opportunity. But the pace of activity has heated up recently, and I thought I'd give my perspective on the current state of play. I feel a little like I sometimes do when watching a basketball game: so much of the action takes place during the last eight minutes of the game that sometimes I wonder if it would be better if I ignored the first 40 minutes of play and just arrived for the finish. I certainly wish I could ignore the first 13 months of this pandemic and only come in at the end. But just as the beginning of a basketball game is key to the outcome, the last year of this pandemic has been key to where we are today. Now feels like the last eight minutes of the basketball game, and the teams are really working all out. We are seeing people pulling in all directions, but all of us have the exact same goal. All of us want to protect the health of our people, and all of us want to return to a normal life. One part of that is getting the cruise industry back on its feet, both for the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on the industry for their livelihoods and for the millions who rely on us for a safe and enjoyable vacation. But let me emphasize that point: we all share a common goal. Like any other endeavor, there are different perspectives on how best to accomplish the goal, but our goal and the goal of the health professionals at the CDC, at public health departments, amongst travel advisors, and amongst our loyal cruisers is a return to a healthy and enjoyable cruise vacation for all Americans. There are a few major milestones we're now experiencing, and I'd like to comment on them. First and foremost is the vaccines. They work, they are safe, and they're being administered at a record pace. Almost 45% of eligible Americans have already received at least their first dose. Over three-quarters of people over 65 have acquired protection. Million shots a day are being administered. The United States is one of the leaders in vaccinating our citizens, and that transforms the situation. Secondly, and just as important, is the experience we are now gaining from our operations abroad. Our company alone has successfully carried over a hundred thousand guests on more than 150 cruises, and with all those cruises we've had only 10 positive cases. Each of those 10 cases has been handled smoothly with no outbreaks or disruptions to all the other guests or to the local communities. We no longer have to theorize. We no longer have to make conjectures about what could possibly happen. Today we're able to see what actually happens and draw conclusions based on empirical evidence rather than random hypotheses, and that empirical evidence is overwhelmingly positive. The third key point is our knowledge of the disease and how to contain it has grown nicely. In particular, extensive testing is now available. Testing is the key to catching the virus early and preventing the spread. In addition, contact tracing on board ships can be done with a precision undreamed of on land. The combination of widespread testing and effective contact tracing are part of the reason that we can reduce the risk of an outbreak on a ship to levels below that on land. Fourth point is that people are frustrated. They've been suffering from the pain and misery caused by all the lockdowns in America, but at the same time our public health officials are rightly worried about the risk of a new surge and rightly want to take steps to limit that risk. Just last week the CDC issued new and tougher restrictions on cruising out of US ports, but the CDC has also said that they see a way to restart in the US as early as July, and we are eager to work with them towards that goal. Finally, the constructive dialogue with public health officials has been very positive. Based on the extensive experience in cruising in so many places, more and more countries are moving forward with cruises. Just today the United Kingdom announced new rules for the restart of cruising, along with comparable rules for air travel. As confusing as all this is, I think it's like the frenetic last minutes of that basketball game, and I think that there are signs that we are approaching the end. As I said earlier, we all want the same thing: safe and healthy cruising. That's our hope, and it is the sincere hope of the CDC and other public officials around the world and around our country. My fondest desire is that we can follow President Biden's target of July 4th as a major reopening milestone. The evidence is that we can do it. Now is our opportunity to work together towards that common goal. Communication will be the key. We have been successful in having such open dialogues with public health officials in over 27 countries around the world. The result has been a rapid reopening of cruise travel in most of the areas we sail to, with extensive protections to make sure we are taking care of everyone's health. We look forward to such a constructive dialogue with the CDC and others to make that success even broader. Communication is the key for all of you, our travel advisor partners, as well. As we approach the start, it is more important than ever to get the word out. I do thank all of our guests and all of you for your loyalty and your perseverance. I think that perseverance is getting closer and closer to being rewarded as momentum builds towards normalcy in our lives and in the cruise business. Let me give you an example from the many letters and messages that I've been reading. This particular post I'm going to read is from Joanne, who's from Massachusetts and who will be sailing with us on Adventure of the Seas this July. She says, "My husband and I are fully vaccinated. We have had four cancellations in the past year, and we are still ready to cruise. We have always felt that cruising has gone over and above to make our vacation safe." Now, even after being canceled four times, Joanne and her husband are raring to go. Now that is what I call loyalty, and we are making sure that we wow them on board Adventure of the Seas this June. This particular cruise will leave from Nassau in the Bahamas, but we look forward to welcoming them soon thereafter on another cruise from a US port. And there are so many out there like Joanne. This is a time to prepare, to reach out to all of them. We will start boarding Americans on our ships next month in the Caribbean and in Europe, and it won't be too long before we're doing so here in the States. The CDC has talked of a July start, and we're working towards doing so. But you can also use your influence to remind people of the importance of abiding by all the precautions today. While we're getting closer, we still haven't contained this disease. Please make every effort to help our health professionals achieve that important goal. And as part of that, don't forget to wear your mask and to wash your hands.