Royal Caribbean Group extends government relations expertise with new SVP Corporate Affairs
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 11 September 2020 11 September 2020
Donna Hrinak is joining Royal Caribbean Group as Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Hrinak, former Corporate Vice President, The Boeing Company and President, Boeing Canada, Latin America & Caribbean, will lead the Group's government relations, communications and public relations functions. She brings a stellar curriculum vitae in global regulatory policy, multicultural negotiations, coalition leadership and international business transformation to augment the Group's industry leading government affairs team.
"As a global company touching every continent," said Richard D. Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO, "we are used to making our way in a complicated world. But these last few months have reminded us, more than ever, just how challenging that world is. Donna will provide her decades of experience in navigating the complexities of regulatory and cultural ecosystems to enable us to continue to build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with countries and organizations everywhere we operate."
Reporting directly to Fain, Hrinak will provide informed counsel and facilitate productive communication among a broad array of stakeholders, including port authorities, coastal community leadership, government representatives, environmental advocates, scientific and marine leaders and more.
"I am honored and delighted to join Royal Caribbean Group, with such deep roots in the communities it serves," said Hrinak. "As with other industries I've represented, thoughtful and respectful travel promotes economic development, multicultural understanding and global perspective for all entities involved. I look forward to assisting Royal Caribbean Group strengthen its business position throughout the world."
Hrinak has designed and led strategies to confront an increasingly complicated global regulatory environment and guided executives in evaluating the business, political and economic risks involved in global operations. She has worked closely and collaboratively with a broad range of international coalitions and agencies, including the World Health Organization. Prior to Boeing, Hrinak held executive positions in global, Latin American and European public affairs at PepsiCo and at Kraft Foods. In addition, she served as United States Ambassador to Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, where she architected new strategies to promote U.S. interests, led bilateral trade relationships, won broad-based support for U.S. positions and protected the rights of U.S. citizens by fostering transparency and judicial security.
Hrinak joined the Group on August 24.
Costa Deliziosa sets sail today from Trieste
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- Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 06 September 2020 06 September 2020
Costa Cruises is resuming its cruises with Costa Deliziosa, the first ship operated by the Italian company to return to the sea with carrying paying passengers. Costa Deliziosa leaves at 5 p.m. today from Trieste on a one-week cruise designed to rediscover – in complete safety – the best of Italy, and calling only at Italian ports – namely Bari, Brindisi, Corigliano-Rossano, Siracusa and Catania.
“We’re delighted to be able to welcome our guests on board again after more than five months without cruising and we’re also happy to be restarting operations right here in Italy. Our decision to resume responsibly with Italian cruises for Italian guests is particularly significant for us, since we’ve believed and invested in this country for more than 70 years as the only cruise company flying the Italian flag,” said Group CEO, Costa Group & Carnival Asia Michael Thamm. “For the last few weeks, we’ve been working together with the authorities on implementation of the new health procedures that will allow our guests to make the most of their cruise experience while ensuring maximum safety. Meanwhile, we’re continuously monitoring the situation with a view to gradually reintroducing cruising on more ships from October, with itineraries extended also to include guests from our other European markets.”
The guests embarking on Costa Deliziosa for her first three September cruises will all be residents of Italy; embarkation will be carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the Costa Safety Protocol, a document developed by the company together with a panel of scientific experts, containing new operational measures in response to the COVID-19 situation, perfectly in line with the latest requirements defined by the relevant Italian and European authorities. On arrival at the terminal in Trieste, with staggered entrance times by virtue of online check-in, each guest will have their temperature scanned, submit a health questionnaire and be subjected to an antigen rapid swab test. Passengers will not be cleared for boarding unless and until they have tested negative. For any suspected case of COVID-19 it will be possible to perform an additional test with a molecular swab test. Prior to embarking, crew members have also been tested with molecular swab at intervals and been quarantined for 14 days. In addition, each member of crew will have a monthly swab test.
Bari and the other destinations on Costa Deliziosa’s itinerary can be visited only by joining the protected excursions organized by the company for small groups of people on sanitized means of transport, and subject to temperature measurement before leaving and rejoining the ship. On Costa’s shore tours, guests will be able to see other places in the vicinity of the ports of call, such as Lecce, Ostuni, Otranto, Alberobello, Gallipoli, Taormina, Noto, Modica, Ragusa and Sibari.
The shipboard amenities and entertainment have been redesigned based on the procedures in the Safety Protocol but still retain the distinguishing features of a Costa cruise holiday, thanks partly to the physical distancing enabled by the ship’s reduced capacity. For example: repeat performances of the live shows for smaller audiences; a switch from buffet restaurants to seated dining in the restaurants; the seating capacity in theaters, show lounges, bars and restaurants has been revised respect minimum distance; staggered entrance for some facilities such as the spa, pools and kids’ miniclub with a limited number of people allowed in at any one time. Also, there will be enhanced cleaning and sanitization in all areas on board, including cabins, while the shipboard health services have been expanded. Other health & safety measures are the use of face masks whenever necessary, hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the ship and the introduction of self-service clinical thermometer kiosks.
After Costa Deliziosa, which will be departing from Trieste until the end of the year, Costa Cruises’ next ship due back in service is Costa Diadema, scheduled to leave from Genoa on September 19. Like Deliziosa, she will only be calling at Italian ports and carrying guests resident in Italy, with stopovers in Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia. Then from October it will be the turn of the flagship Costa Smeralda, followed in December by Costa Firenze – the company’s new ship under construction at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard.
Explorer Dream occupancy level soars to near 100% in Taiwan
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 01 September 2020 01 September 2020
Occupancy levels on Dream Cruises’ programme in Taiwan has soared since the operation was launched in July and Explorer Dream that operates the itineraries is now sailing near full operational capacity, Genting Hong Kong said in a statement/
With the support from authorities in Taiwan, Dream Cruises’ Explorer Dream was given the approval to operate two, three and four night “Taiwan Island-Hopping” cruises departing from Keelung to Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu islands –making Taiwan one of the earlier markets to reopen cruise travel.
“The market response to the Explorer Dream deployment in Taiwan is very encouraging with regulated first sailing at occupancy rate of 50% on 26 July 2020 rising progressively to 96% on the 23 to 26 August 2020 cruises. The Group was informed by the Hainan Commercial Bureau today that Dream Cruises is welcomed to commence domestic cruise operation from Sanya,” Genting Hong Kong said.
The company is also in the process of negotiation with other regional governments to start domestic cruises. “These initiatives provide more visibility in the future of the Group and the leadership role of the Group to re-start cruising after COVID-19,” it said.
The group that also owns Star Cruise, Crystal Cruises and the MV Werften shipyard in Germany, reported a net loss of $742.6 million for the first half of the year, including an impairment charge of $386.6 million.
“As COVID-19 crisis continues to unravel, the Group is unable to predict with certainty the ultimate impact it would have on the Group’s business, its financial condition and its short or long-term financial performance. As a result, the Group expects to report a net loss for the year ending 31 December 2020,” Genting Hong Kong said.
At the end of last month, Lim Keong Hui, executive director, resigned and Colin Au plus Chan Kam Hing Chris were appointed as executive directors of the company.
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