Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines 2011 Annual Report Download - page 5

As I sit down to write this letter, I am struck by
how atypical our operating environment has
been over the past several years and yet—once
again—how well our people have responded.
It is gratifying to see all the advances we have
made on so many fronts, but still very frustrating
that a few external factors have kept us from
reaching our goal of higher returns so far. The
fact that we have done so well in the face of
such headwinds validates our direction and
our vision. Today, I would like to briefly review
the last year and focus on how we will achieve
that vision.
It seems amazing that it has been over three
years since we first began hearing the term
“Great Recession.” We are all too familiar with
the toll this period has had, and continues to
have on the global economy. The economic
downturn and the related financial crisis chal-
lenged everyone, but by sticking to our core
values of offering a phenomenal vacation at
a value price, we produced surprisingly good
financial results given the severity of the
economic backdrop. Not even the additional
headwinds created by the Arab Spring, the
Fukushima Daiichi disaster or the European
financial crisis
prevented us from producing
the second highest
profitability in our history
last year.
Unfortunately, the cruise ship tragedy in Italy
has undermined that very strong performance;
it means that, instead of being a year in which
we reap record profits from the very solid foun-
dation we built, 2012 will first need to compen-
sate for the impact that heartbreaking event
has had, mainly on first time cruisers. Fortu-
nately, while the tragedy was a shock to every-
one, most people realize that it is an anomaly
in an industry with an otherwise outstanding
safety record. As a result, we are convinced
that its impact will wane rapidly. Nevertheless,
we recognize that there is no such thing as per-
fect safety, only a perfect dedication to safety
and we will continue to strive for that.
We feel confident that the strategic initiatives
I have been discussing with you for a number
of years are well underway and ready to bear
fruit. These include global diversification of
our guest sourcing, an investment grade credit
rating and continued cost discipline. We have
reached an important milestone this year as we
are now attracting about half of all our guests
from outside the United States. This is a par-
ticular thrill for me—when I first joined the
company, 90% of our guests boarded within
100 meters of my office; today, an equal num-
ber
of our guests are coming from outside the
United States!
Dear Fellow Shareholders:
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD. đƫā
We feel confident that the strategic initiatives I have been
discussing with you for a number of years are well underway
and ready to bear fruit.