Royal Caribbean thinks big
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Following a sell-out first season in the Gulf, Royal Caribbean will fine-tune its cruise schedules for next year and officials have suggested that continued demand for Middle East itineraries could see the upgrade of the vessel to one of its larger 3,000+ passenger Voyager class ships in the future.According to regional director Helen Beck, considerations such as port facilities, infrastructure and visa requirements may determine the future development of cruise in the region: “It is entirely possible that in a couple of years we could bring in a Voyager class ship but our key concern is the provision of facilities and support for a ship the size.”Typically there is a natural evolution such as that which has happened in the Mediterranean where we started small and now operate with six of our eight largest ships during the summer, but it can also be a situation of grow or go,” she said.The lack of a common cruise visa, even within the UAE, is a particular concern for Royal Caribbean, an issue that is on the agenda at the Bahrain Cruise Forum this week. “The visa requirements of cruise guests visiting the region need to be adapted to take in to consideration this unique way of exploring the Gulf,” Beck added.”This is a real opportunity for the Gulf to develop as a winter sun cruise destination and the local participants to formulate a strategy to capitalise on their strengths - to make it easy for the cruise lines, to expand the range of ports to include maybe even Iran, Kuwait, Yemen or Saudi, and to think regionally.”For Royal Caribbean, she said next year should see a streamlining of operations, finessing arrival and boarding procedures in Dubai and reviewing shore excursions according to demand in 2010: “The travel trade is now more familiar with our product, and we are expecting strong support from the UK again, perhaps more from Russia and an uptake from the US and Canada, where the Gulf cruise product was not brochure last year.”
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