The European boss of Royal Caribbean International has said he is “really confident” 2022 will be as close to normal for the cruise market “as it possibly can be” as he launched the line’s 2022 programme.
Announcing Royal would have seven ships in Europe for 2022 – one more than 2021 – Ben Bouldin, vice president for Europe, the Middle East & Africa, said: “We are very confident Europe can play a really significant role in Royal Caribbean’s plans for 2022.”
He said some “great ships” would be sailing in the region, including the line’s newest vessel Odyssey of the Seas, which was floated out in Germany at the weekend and is due to sail her maiden season from Rome next year.
“Odyssey will be back in Rome for the summer of ‘22, which is fantastic news,” said Bouldin, adding that Oasis-class ship Allure of the Seas would also be back, sailing from Barcelona.
Crucially for the British market, Anthem of the Seas will be sailing from Southampton again, but Bouldin quashed rumours that Independence of the Seas would be coming back to British shores.
“I know there’s loads of Independence fans out there who still email me to say ‘Is Indy coming back in 2022?’ Unfortunately, not. It will be Anthem again in 2022, which I’m personally delighted about, because that ship’s just perfectly suited to the to the British market,” he said.
But he did not rule out Independence coming back at some stage.
“Anthem has definitely got a following. We wouldn’t keep her here if she wasn’t the perfect ship for the marketplace. But you can’t deny there is a huge demand for people to see Independence back. I actually had a travel agent who messaged me this week going ‘I hear independence is coming back in ‘22 to Southampton. Can you confirm please because if that’s the case, I need to lay on extra staff next week?’
“I don’t know where they were getting that from but I wouldn’t say never though. I’d love to have Independence back. We’ll see what happens. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’d love to have two ships back in Southampton. If one of those ends up being Indy again, then so be it. But for now, at least, it’s Anthem in Southampton in 2022 which I’m thrilled about.”
Bouldin revealed the strapline and creative to support the 2022 launch was ‘Holidays worth waiting for’.
“I think that’s quite apt given the challenges we’ve all faced this year and on-going. We’re not one of the first to put our 2022 programme on sale. We never are. We tend to go late November, early December most years and that works for us because we like to have a good run at the next year first; get that done, and then obviously move into selling 2022,” he said.
“At the moment, we’ve got to step up and realise is that people are still uncertain as to what 2021 is going to bring. The whole of the industry has got fingers crossed that we can all deliver the cruise vacations we want to. But I certainly think the public is thinking about 2022 and wanting to have something to look forward to.
“They’re saying, ‘I want to get something booked’. People are looking for a little morale boost and tend to shop when they want a pick-me-up. People like to book holidays to look forward to.
“So I’m confident on the rhetoric of what I’m hearing about other cruise lines’ success, that they’re on sale now, and we’re going to have a really strong start. Our team is going to really focus on this for the balance of this year in December and then into January. So we’re looking forward to taking this to the trade and really amplifying it.”
Bouldin said there was still considerable demand for 2021.
“We’re quite well sold for 2021,” he said. “People are not dropping out until we force them to do so.”