Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Richard Fain has vented his spleen over talk of a ‘new normal’ in cruising, arguing that the only normal is change.
In a recent video message to guests, Fain said that, as Royal Caribbean will begin opening its offices back up this month after they were closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are beginning to talk about the next chapter as the ‘new normal’ – a term he has “begun to hate”.
“The real problem with the term is that it implies the existence of a semi-permanent normal which is about to be transformed into a new semi-permanent normal,” Fain explained.
“But the concept of a semi-permanent normal, new or existing, is history. In this modern technological era in which we’re all living, there is no semi-permanent anything – the only constant is change.
“There won’t be a new normal for selling cruises, or taking cruises, or operating cruises.
Royal Caribbean’s CEO said that while some suggest that cruising in the future will be unrecognisable from what we are used to, he had two words for them: “horse bucky”.
Fain also used the video message to trumpet the company’s ability to “balance constancy with change”.
“Our products evolve constantly. We try to always be ahead of the curve; never stuck unchanging in time,” he said.
“When we design our ships, we talk about a design formula of one-third tradition, one-third evolution and one-third revolution. That formula’s worked pretty well for us, and it works in a post-COVID world, too.
“It doesn’t stick us in the past, but it isn’t a new normal.”
Check out Fain’s video message in full below:
