Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines 2006 Annual Report Download - page 7

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD. 5
Expansion into the South Pacific and Asian regions is also a key part of our international business development. With a population of more
than 3.7 billion, the region is one of the fastest-growing tourism and travel markets in the world. That’s why we announced 10 itineraries
for 2007-2008 in Asia alone. Rhapsody of the Seas will sail a series of new itineraries to the South Pacific, Australia/New Zealand, Singapore,
Hong Kong and mainland China. The Hong Kong and mainland China portions of the season will be targeted mainly to local Chinese guests.
Celebrity Mercury will also head to Australia and New Zealand in late 2007.
Environmental Responsibility
We continue to take steps, as part of our program of continuous improvement, to reduce our impact on the environment. For example,
energy efficiency is a top priority everywhere. This includes high-efficiency lighting systems, window tinting, and onboard appliances
and ancillary equipment with the highest efficiency ratings. We use silicon-based hull coatings to cut drag and maintenance, and even
employ route optimization software. In fact, our Royal Caribbean Genesis-class vessels will use 25 percent less energy per guest than our
Freedom-class ships, which are already the most energy-efficient ships we know of.
Last year also marked the 10-year anniversary of our Ocean Fund, which has awarded grants of more than $9 million to 64 nonprofit
marine conservation groups and continues to help address many vital environmental issues. A similar program, our Galápagos Islands
Fund, helps preserve and protect the islands’ unique species and habitats. Clean oceans are good for the environment, good for our
guests and good for our business.
I’m also proud to report that 10 Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships won 2006 Green Planet Awards from Kuoni Switzerland,
one of the world’s largest travel companies. The award recognizes exemplary handling of environmental issues such as energy use, water
consumption and waste disposal, plus staff training and guest education. Earlier this year, Royal Celebrity Tours Alaska operations earned
a Green Star award for its conservation efforts.
Safety, Security and Accountability
As we grow and become more international in our corporate focus, we are simultaneously strengthening our focus on safety and security
as well as good corporate governance.
Safety and security continue to be our highest priority. We recently appointed a top U.S. federal security and law enforcement executive
to oversee our Global Security Department with broad responsibilities for assessing, managing and continuously improving companywide
security. We are also consolidating key corporate-wide functions to develop an improved organizational approach to security that deters
incidents while ensuring effective response capabilities. As part of this effort, we have initiated a project to install new digital cameras in
strategic areas throughout our ships backed up by state-of-the-art recording and processing equipment.
CELEBRITY SOLSTICE , A 122,000 GROSS-TON SHIP,
UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN PAPENBURG, GERMANY