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Royal Caribbean expansion plans ‘pushed back six to 12 months’

Royal Caribbean’s plans for new ships and opening more private islands have been pushed back six to 12 months because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but nothing has changed “strategically” for the line, according to its chief.

Asked whether Royal Caribbean still planned to press ahead with the opening of more private islands, following the success of Perfect Day in the Caribbean, president Michael Bayley said: “From a strategic perspective, we are going to continue forward with that strategy. From a practical timing perspective, those projects are delayed because of everything we’re going through.”

He told a Travel Weekly webcast: “As a company, obviously we’ve taken on a lot more debt to manage our operating expense during this period. But as soon as we get back to service and as soon as we start generating revenue, then we’ll start adjusting that strategy and trying to figure out the perfect timing for it. But our dream, aspiration and plans are the same.”

He said Royal Caribbean’s plans to build new ships was also intact, but just delayed.

“We have new ships on order, we have the new Icon class coming, we’ve got more Oasis class coming. Nothing’s changed except the timing. So ballpark, you can say that because of the closures of the yards and what have you, that everything got pushed back from six to 12 months. But literally, we’ll be getting a new ship every year, for the next several years.

“That’s planned; we’re moving forward. We do see this as a marathon. We do see this as a terribly disruptive, difficult period. But we think that the brand, the business, the product, the proposition is phenomenal. And we’re going to come back and we’re going to come back big.”

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