ICFR’s Jon Ingleton shares updates from Cruise Europe, Studio DADO, Royal Caribbean and others
By
Jon Ingleton |
Monday 8 April
After moving lodgings for the week, three appointments filled my day with joy and education in equal servings on the second day at Seatrade Cruise Global (SCG).
First up was a short hop to Studio DADO’s new studio in Coral Gables. The company has enjoyed a rapid rise to industry prominence in its short history with some big wins proving worthy reward for its polished output. I also took the time to interview the team for the cover story in our upcoming issue of Cruise & Ferry Interiors, which will be published this June (subscribe here so you don’t miss out). We can’t wait to share exclusive insights into how the team is designing the spa and suites on Carnival Cruise Line’s forthcoming 6,500-passenger Mardi Gras, which will launch in 2020.
Cruise Europe always delivers a full house for its SCG party and the organisation’s members were enthusiastic as they looked forward to the week. Like Cruise Baltic, the association has been outspoken in its call for greater collaboration to tackle environmental issues. Great patience is required to effect significant change in any industry, but willing cruise lines, port and destination partners are starting to make great strides forward.
I was pleased to see James Cabello, Operations and Product Development executive for Mystic Cruises, in good spirits and with very good reason after the gala christening of new vessel World Explorer on 6 April. While new to the expedition cruise business, Mystic Cruises is looking forward to two more deliveries in 2020: Mystic Navigator and Mystic Voyager. This was the start of a SCG that was dominated by news from a booming expedition sector.
The Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. press dinner followed at the National Hotel. Being based in England, face-to-face meetings with the company’s executive team are less frequent than we’d like and we settle for telephone and e-mail relations for most of the year. So this press dinner was an appreciated opportunity to meet up in a relaxed environment and catch up on the year just gone and the one ahead. As usual, chairman and CEO Richard Fain gave an easy welcome and some informal words of encouragement for us all to continue to support this industry’s amazing trajectory.
Read ICFR's highlights from the first, third, fourth and fifth days of SCG.