The boss of Royal Caribbean International says deploying a second ship out of Southampton is “a given” in the future following Anthem of the Seas’ strong sales performance this year.
Speaking on new vessel Odyssey of the Seas on Sunday, president and chief executive Michael Bayley admitted he had been “sceptical” about how successful Anthem would be ahead of its UK season.
But he said the Quantum-class vessel, the first Royal ship to restart revenue sailings in Europe during the pandemic, was “a hit” and did “very well”.
Asked about the chances of increasing ex-UK capacity, Bayley said: “I would say that is a given. I would say fairly confidently we will be increasing capacity in the UK.
“We’ve got quite a portfolio of wonderful ships so I don’t know which ship it would be, but I feel pretty good that we’ll be adding capacity into the UK.”
In 2019, Royal announced that Independence would not offer ex-UK itineraries alongside Anthem the following summer.
Anthem is scheduled to operate alone out of Southampton next summer but Royal has not confirmed its 2023 UK season yet.
Bayley hinted the next Royal ship to launch, Oasis-class vessel Wonder of the Seas, could offer an ex-UK showcase sailing when it comes into service next year.
He called on Royal Caribbean’s EMEA vice president Ben Bouldin to “figure out” how to get Wonder of the Seas to Southampton for “a few days”. “We need to put some pressure on Ben,” he added.
Bayley said it was “very difficult” to say whether the UK remained the second most important to Royal after the US.
“Everything went higgledy-piddledy for a while,” he said. “The UK is, was and will continue to be a phenomenally important key market for Royal Caribbean, and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.
“Like all markets, it’s going to have its bumps in the road. I see the UK market continuing to grow and I see Royal Caribbean continuing to play a big part of that.”