Dear Shareholders

 

NEW FACILITIES
Like many with growing families, we found ourselves in need of larger quarters this year. We recently announced plans to significantly expand our facilities in Wichita, and expect to create some 400 new jobs there. Closer to home, we are planning on additional supplemental office space to accommodate expected growth in our operations.

Our newest ship also got a new home this year. Fourteen hours before Voyager of the Seas sailed into Miami, we officially opened a new, state-of-the-art cruise terminal at the Port of Miami-Dade. When fully completed, the new terminal will greatly speed the comings and goings of up to 10,000 guests a day. We will continue to prioritize port-development initiatives as the needs of our ships and guests evolve.

Without a doubt, our growth in fleet size, aided by a steady increase in ships' speeds, has opened a world of opportunity for us in deploying our fleet. Celebrity Cruises entered the European cruise market for the first time this year, joining sister brand Royal Caribbean International for a successful summer of sailings, despite the Kosovo conflict. We also announced plans to begin dedicated South American itineraries, starting in November 2000. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean International embarked on longer itineraries to Europe, Asia and Australia, and recently added Africa. It also more than doubled its popular shorter sailings, offering three weeks of two-, three- and four-night cruises from Seattle, beginning in May 2000, and year-round three- and four-night trips from Port Canaveral, also starting in May 2000. Clearly, we are well-prepared for the rising tide of cruise vacationing.

Close to two million guests vacationed with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises this year - one of every three cruisers in the North American market.

NEW SERVICES

We continue to invest heavily in information technology (IT) to support our corporate infrastructure and guest and travel-trade relations. We now have fully automated our pierside embarkation process, shaving valuable minutes off guests' check-in and boarding procedures. We also have begun installing interactive television in guests' staterooms, enabling them to shop for shore excursions, select a dinner wine and keep tabs on their onboard activities. Another innovation, royal caribbean onlineSM, allows guests unprecedented access to the Internet and their e-mail.

A new Customer Service Center capitalizes on our IT investment on land, using cutting-edge technology to help travel agents resolve booking and billing issues before guests sail. Not yet five months old, the center is already receiving top marks from our travel-agency partners.

Displaying a connectivity of a different sort altogether, hundreds of employees worldwide participated in dozens of corporate G.I.V.E. (Get Involved Volunteer Everywhere) projects, honoring a tradition of community service begun nearly three decades ago. One notable project, which involved crews on all 17 ships, was a holiday toy drive for children's charities from Bali to the Barbados. Another was a cultural exchange program pairing 100 children with crew members in Juneau, Alaska.
New Systems

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