Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines 2002 Annual Report Download - page 10

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ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
a premier provider of land tours in Alaska
during 2002. Royal Celebrity Tours
achieved a 38-percent increase in the num-
ber of guests in our second year of operation,
and we anticipate a similar gain this year. We
set upon the rails our third and fourth glass-
domed “Wilderness Express” traincars in
2002 and doubled our motorcoach fleet.
AND, THANKFULLY . . .
There are thousands of reasons for our suc-
cess in 2002 and our ability to meet future
challenges. My deepest thanks go first to the
more than 30,000 shipboard and shoreside
employees of Royal Caribbean International
and Celebrity Cruises whose talent, job ded-
ication, and professionalism never waver. I
am also very grateful to the many experi-
enced pros in the travel-agent community,
the lifeblood of our distribution system.
Finally, I thank our Board of Directors for
their wisdom and vision in helping build a
strong and resilient company. A special debt
of gratitude is owed to a company founder,
Arne Wilhelmsen, a stalwart member of our
board who is retiring after 35 years of dis-
tinguished service. Quite simply, Arne has
been the very bedrock upon which Royal
Caribbean grew. Amazingly, he never missed
a board meeting in 35 years. He steered us
from our start with
Song of Norway , the ship
that featured a distinctive cocktail lounge
encircling the funnel, to a spectacular 25-
ship fleet with rock-climbing walls ascending
the funnel. Arne helped us climb, and the
company will always welcome his wise coun-
sel. We are fortunate that the Wilhelmsen
tradition will be upheld as Arne’s son, Alex,
takes his place on the board. Together, we
will build an exciting future.
Sincerely,
RICHARD D. FAIN
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer