A Man, A
Company, and
A Ship
An Interview with
Captain Herman Zini
Master of LIBERTY
OF THE SEAS
By
Richard H. Wagner
Company, and
A Ship
An Interview with
Captain Herman Zini
Master of LIBERTY
OF THE SEAS
By
Richard H. Wagner
One might well expect that the first captain of the world’s largest passenger ship would be a white-
bearded mariner who, nearing retirement, was bringing the ship into service as a fitting climax to an
illustrious career. However, reflecting the youthful and active image that Royal Caribbean International
seeks to engender, tall, athletic-looking Captain Herman Zini, the first master of LIBERTY OF THE
SEAS, is still under 40. Indeed, he was the youngest captain in the Royal Caribbean fleet when he took
command of GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS at the age of 34 in 2002. When LIBERTY was in New
York for her maiden call, I had the opportunity to talk with RCI’s young prodigy about his career, Royal
Caribbean, and his ship.
A Meteoric Rise
Although Captain Zini is a young man, he has had more than 25 years nautical experience. Born in San
Fernando, Argentina, which is often referred to as the “Nautical Capital” of Argentina, Zini developed an
early affinity for the sea and water-borne activities such as competitive sailing and rowing. “At the age of
12, I joined the high school that belongs to the navy in Argentina [Liceo Naval Miltar Almirante
Guillermo Brown]. I did five years at the school and at the same time that I was getting my [scholastic]
education, I was training to be an Argentinean [naval] officer. So, I became a reserve officer at the age
of 17. During those five years, we were going to sea a lot on navy ships.”
Zini continued his education at the Escuela Nacional de Nautica Manuel Belgrano, the merchant marine
academy in Buenos Aires. “There we had three years of education about navigation. By the time that I
went to the merchant marine college, all of the things that I was learning there, I had already learned
before - - the sextant, navigation skills and in general being a ship’s captain.”
Upon graduation, Zini received his Third Officer’s license and went to work on cargo ships operating out
of Argentina. While he received valuable experience in navigation and handling ships in confined waters,
“I was not really satisfied with the standard of the shipping in Argentina, the owners, how they keep their
ships, things like that. Really, I was a bit disappointed with the career. So, I was about to make a
change.”
Having put so much time and effort into training for a career at sea, Zini decided to give the sea one more
chance before “I put my feet finally on land.” He thought about what would be an ideal career and “so, I
took my suitcases to Miami to find a cruise line. I knocked on every single company’s door and here I
am.”
Zini started with Royal Caribbean in 1991 as Second Officer on NORDIC EMPRESS and received his
master’s license two years later. Since then he has served as Staff Captain on VIKING SERENADE,
LEGEND OF THE SEAS, VISION OF THE SEAS and ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS. He has
commanded GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS, SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS, ADVENTURE OF THE
SEAS, and RADIANCE OF THE SEAS. In addition, he has participated in the building of LEGEND
OF THE SEAS, VOYAGER OF THE SEAS and most recently, LIBERTY OF THE SEAS. Thus, not
only has Captain Zini developed a substantial amount of sea experience in a short time, he also has had
wide experience within the Royal Caribbean fleet.
With his roots in naval and cargo ships, one might expect that guest relations would not be a high priority
for Captain Zini. However, “I spend quite a bit of time with the guests. I walk around the ship a lot
during a cruise. It is something I like to do because it is great to meet a lot of people and for me, it is a
great way to know how the ship is doing. You hear right away when something is not up to our standard
because people will come up and tell you. It is a great way to feel the ship, walking around.”
An International Company
Like Captain Zini, Royal Caribbean is a young company. In fact, when Captain Zini joined Royal
Caribbean, the company had been in business only for some 22 years. Although an American, Ed
Stephens, is usually credited with the idea for the company, the original owners were three Norwegian
investors, I.M. Skaugen, S/A, Anders Wilelmson and Company and Gotas Larsen Shipping
Corporation. As a result, although the firm was headquartered in Miami, the ships were operated by
Norwegians and there was a strong Scandinavian influence, which is reflected in the names of the line’s
early ships: SONG OF NORWAY, NORDIC PRINCE and SUN VIKING.
The original idea for the line was to operate ships that were built for the purpose of doing Caribbean
cruises out of Miami. At the time, most of the firms providing Caribbean cruises were doing so using
former ocean liners that had been retired from the transatlantic market because they were too old or
because the market for crossings had evaporated with the advent of commercial jet service between the
United States and Europe. Stephens saw that ships cruising in the calm waters of the Caribbean had no
need for the long bows, low superstructures and deep drafts needed for handling the stormy North
Atlantic. Rather, they could be built with blunt bows and larger superstructures so as to maximize the
amount of passenger (i.e. revenue-producing) space on the ship. He also saw that if the cruises were
sold in packages that combined the cruise with airline tickets to and from Miami, the cruises could be
marketed nationwide rather than just to the residents of Florida. Thus, the company started as a
Norwegian business focusing on the American market for Caribbean cruises.
Today, Royal Caribbean is much different. “We are an international cruise line. We have 21 ships in our
fleet and this year I think we are going to 144 different countries. To have a large variety of classes of
ships is very important to us. Some people prefer itinerary versus size, some prefer the larger ships
because there is so much to do. There are people who like to go to Alaska or the Panama Canal. They
cannot go on [LIBERTY OF THE SEAS] because this ship is not Panamax, so we have the other
beautiful ships, the Radiance-class, the Vision-class. If they like to make three or four day cruises, we
have just finished the renovation of all the Sovereign-class ships, the SOVEREIGN, MAJESTY and
MONARCH.”
While Royal Caribbean still maintains a sizable presence in the Caribbean, the company is expanding into
other areas as well. “There are going to be seven ships altogether between [RCI affiliate] Celebrity
[Cruises] and Royal Caribbean [in Europe], next year. Europe is our biggest growing market right now.
We are growing in Europe at a rate higher than the travel industry. Basically, we are not just competing
with other cruise lines, we are also showing that cruising can be a better vacation experience than
something else. So, we are really competing with all the shoreside land-based resorts.”
“When I was, on the GRANDEUR in 2002, the demographics were like 60 % Americans and 40%
Europeans. I would think now it is more like 50/50. So, the European market is growing a lot. You
see a lot more Europeans cruising altogether whether it is at home or on this side [of the Atlantic].”
Although Royal Caribbean’s style of cruising remains distinctly American, marketing the cruises
internationally means that the line must make some adjustments in order to accommodate passengers
from different nations. “We have a position onboard that is called International Ambassador. We
support five core languages onboard our ship. All our programs, communication flyers, TV
advertisements for the daily activities, the safety announcements include five core languages. Then, of
course, we have crew members aboard from all over the world and it is very rare that any one of our
crew members will speak only one language. They all have to speak English, which is the working
language [onboard], and coming from all over the world they already speak another language. When we
position a ship in a particular market where we know a particular language will have a strong presence,
we take some crew members [from other ships] that have that skill. So, when we go to the
Mediterranean and we know that we have a lot of Spanish speaking guests there, we try to take some of
our Spanish-speaking crew members to be there.”
Indeed, Royal Caribbean has an international work force. “We have hiring departments all over the
world. We are a very international company. I think the last time I checked we had 200 nationalities in
the company. On the ships, we cover 60 to 65 different nationalities. Having said that, a couple of
nationalities are very strong amongst the crew - - the Philippines is one; India, we have quite a few; a
growing number from South Africa; the Caribbean, Jamaica, and we have a lot of people from eastern
European countries. South America is growing more and more. We need to expand all over the world,
not only in our market but also in our recruitment. That is the truly international part of the company.”
This includes the ship’s officers as well. “It started as a Norwegian company. From there, we have
always had a strong Scandinavian presence. But, more and more, we have expanded into other places in
the world. We have officers from Canada, from other parts of Scandinavia - - Sweden, Poland,
Croatia, and Eastern Europe again. We have a few from South America.”
The Biggest Ship
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS is 154,000 gross tons making her the largest cruise ship in terms of tonnage -
- a record she shares with her fleetmate FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. However, at 1,414 feet long and
185 feet wide, she is slightly smaller than Cunard’s QUEEN MARY 2 in physical space. This disparity
is explained by the fact that gross tonnage is not a measure of weight but rather of revenue producing
space. Consequently, since LIBERTY is more box-like in shape than QM2, which requires a more
streamlined shape in order to do fast North Atlantic crossings, LIBERTY has a larger gross tonnage than
QM2. A similar situation occurred in the late 1980s when SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS (73,100
gross tons) became the world’s largest cruise ship even though her physical dimensions were smaller than
QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 (70,000 gross tons). In any event, since gross tonnage is the accepted
standard for measuring cruise ships, LIBERTY and FREEDOM now hold the title.
“We can carry about 5,700 people. Then, 1,400 of those are crew members so that leaves you with a
capacity of 4,300 passengers.” This includes upper berths. The double occupancy passenger capacity
is 3,634.
Unlike most ships who have celebrities or spouses of government officials as the “godmother” or
“sponsor”, the godmother of LIBERTY is Donnalea Madeley, a Canadian travel agent. Ms. Madeley
was selected by Royal Caribbean from 2,500 nominations of women travel agents because of her
philanthropic work. However, the fact that Royal Caribbean limited the universe of nominees to travel
agents underscores their importance to the line. “We do our business through travel agents. We really
value their work. I see more and more the travel agents having a very vital role in our operations. We
have provided the industry and market with wonderful ships and wonderful well-trained crews. I think
we have a very good product and we very much depend upon them to tell the world what we have.”
LIBERTY is the second ship in the Freedom-class, which “is a continuation of the successful Voyager-
class,” with an extra section that lengthens the ship and adds extra space. As a result, the ship is similar
in layout and amenities not only to FREEDOM OF THE SEAS but to the five-ship series that began
with VOYAGER OF THE SEAS. “Different parts of the ships have different colors - - we do that
purposely so as to have a unique feeling. Within that, there are certain areas that we know are working
so well that we don’t want to touch them. For instance, the dining room; all the ships since
EXPLORER, which was the second one, it is pretty much the same - - the same colors, the same look,
it works pretty well. But the theater, it is all different - - all different colors. The Royal Promenade, is
the same but the décor, the walls, the lounges along the Promenade changed slightly. Without changing
too much the layout, we do change the finished product and the colors.”
Indeed, the change in artwork and color give LIBERTY a more restrained feel than her older sister.
While FREEDOM featured statues of giant swimmers and jet aircraft hanging from the ceiling, on
LIBERTY there is “a different theme to the art work: Illusion and Reality.” Developed by French artist
Miguel Chevalier, the artwork features installations in long ribbon-like shapes upon which are projected
lights that vary with the amount of traffic in the area. In addition, the use of muted yellows and ochre give
the ship a pleasant atmosphere. “I like the feeling of the ship walking around. She feels fresh.”
Having had the benefit of building and sailing a nearly identical ship, Royal Caribbean was able to
incorporate some technical improvements into LIBERTY. “The main difference was in the refinement of
the waste plant - - re-routing some of the pipes and equipment. And basically, it is working extremely
well. Not only that but we have gone to a closed loop system. We had some issues before with smell
going out and now we have no smells. We are very pleased with the progress. There was some
experimentation with the engine utilization and fuel with fuel hoses. Those are the two main technical
issues and there were very small details here and there.”
Royal Caribbean is also sharing the experience it gained during FREEDOM’S first season to ensure the
success of LIBERTY’S first season. “I think we have about 7 or 8 percent of crew members from the
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. We also have about 30 or 35 percent with Voyager-class experience, so
the environment is not completely different to them. On the management side, I would say that 80
percent of our managers have start-up team experience. Some of the core team members are part of the
[company’s] start-up team. They move from ship to ship to ship in order to get the ship out. Then they
hand it over. It is not involved in every position but we try to have at least a degree of that because the
learning curve is very fast. You don’t really have time to find out what is happening. You need to fit in
and be doing it right away.”
Inasmuch as the amenities on LIBERTY such as the Flow-rider surf simulator, the boxing ring, the ice
skating rink, and the hot tubs cantilevered out over the sea from the upper deck are on FREEDOM,
Royal Caribbean decided to make LIBERTY the platform for debuting several new passenger
programs. These included a new “Vitality” program which includes counseling about food, physical
training and themes shore excursions, an enhanced wedding-at-sea program, and additional programs for
young cruisers and children..
Even leaving aside what other cruise lines may do, LIBERTY and FREEDOM will not remain the world’
s largest ships for long. Already under construction at the Aker Yard in Finland is the first ship in Royal
Caribbean’s Genesis-class. This ship will be 220,000 gross tons and have a passenger capacity of
5,400. She scheduled to go into service in 2009. Royal Caribbean has also exercised its option for a
second Genesis-class ship.
In order to grow, Royal Caribbean, however, must do more than just build larger ships. It must also
work to ensure that there are port facilities that can handle such megaships. Captain Zini pointed out that
this presents two sets of issues for the line. “One is where you are using the port for embarkations and
disembarkations - - sending 4,000 guests ashore with their luggage with another 4,000 coming onboard
with their luggage in a short period of time, clear customs, immigration and everything. That requires a
very good facility and co-ordination. Because of this, the turn-around terminal is critical for us. Before
we open up a new terminal for turn around, we need to do a lot of ground work. We know what we
need and we look very closely before we select any turn around ports.”
“When you go to the ports-of-call during a cruise, the facilities that we need are different. The process
of getting guests on and off the ship is much simplified because you do not need to do any immigration or
customs and there is no luggage handling. We don’t have to do any loading because we do all our
loading of supplies normally in our U.S. ports. But, ports of call have other issues. You are sending
people ashore and you want to make sure that they have a good time and that there are facilities there to
receive them. We work very closely with our different business partners around the world to make sure
that they can accommodate us so we can grow together. When we grow the capacity here, it is
important that we grow the infrastructure.”
“Some places in the world, it is easier than others. When you are in Europe, the cruise industry is a very
small percentage of the total travel industry. If we go there and duplicate our volume, it is nothing for the
whole infrastructure ashore [to absorb] because we are a small percentage. But, when you go to the
Caribbean, and you increase by 10 percent [it is a major population increase for some islands]. So,
there we have to work very closely with our business partners to be sure that they are growing their
infrastructure at the same rate to accommodate us.”
Last April, LIBERTY emerged from the Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku, Finland where she was built in
“in great condition.” Crossing the Atlantic, she encountered some rough weather but “she is a big ship,
so six and a half meter waves, she makes them look small.” Indeed, even though the LIBERTY has
been in service for only a short time, “the ship is like we have been at sea forever. We have wondered
what we have missed and where it is going to come from because it is really totally good.”
bearded mariner who, nearing retirement, was bringing the ship into service as a fitting climax to an
illustrious career. However, reflecting the youthful and active image that Royal Caribbean International
seeks to engender, tall, athletic-looking Captain Herman Zini, the first master of LIBERTY OF THE
SEAS, is still under 40. Indeed, he was the youngest captain in the Royal Caribbean fleet when he took
command of GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS at the age of 34 in 2002. When LIBERTY was in New
York for her maiden call, I had the opportunity to talk with RCI’s young prodigy about his career, Royal
Caribbean, and his ship.
A Meteoric Rise
Although Captain Zini is a young man, he has had more than 25 years nautical experience. Born in San
Fernando, Argentina, which is often referred to as the “Nautical Capital” of Argentina, Zini developed an
early affinity for the sea and water-borne activities such as competitive sailing and rowing. “At the age of
12, I joined the high school that belongs to the navy in Argentina [Liceo Naval Miltar Almirante
Guillermo Brown]. I did five years at the school and at the same time that I was getting my [scholastic]
education, I was training to be an Argentinean [naval] officer. So, I became a reserve officer at the age
of 17. During those five years, we were going to sea a lot on navy ships.”
Zini continued his education at the Escuela Nacional de Nautica Manuel Belgrano, the merchant marine
academy in Buenos Aires. “There we had three years of education about navigation. By the time that I
went to the merchant marine college, all of the things that I was learning there, I had already learned
before - - the sextant, navigation skills and in general being a ship’s captain.”
Upon graduation, Zini received his Third Officer’s license and went to work on cargo ships operating out
of Argentina. While he received valuable experience in navigation and handling ships in confined waters,
“I was not really satisfied with the standard of the shipping in Argentina, the owners, how they keep their
ships, things like that. Really, I was a bit disappointed with the career. So, I was about to make a
change.”
Having put so much time and effort into training for a career at sea, Zini decided to give the sea one more
chance before “I put my feet finally on land.” He thought about what would be an ideal career and “so, I
took my suitcases to Miami to find a cruise line. I knocked on every single company’s door and here I
am.”
Zini started with Royal Caribbean in 1991 as Second Officer on NORDIC EMPRESS and received his
master’s license two years later. Since then he has served as Staff Captain on VIKING SERENADE,
LEGEND OF THE SEAS, VISION OF THE SEAS and ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS. He has
commanded GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS, SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS, ADVENTURE OF THE
SEAS, and RADIANCE OF THE SEAS. In addition, he has participated in the building of LEGEND
OF THE SEAS, VOYAGER OF THE SEAS and most recently, LIBERTY OF THE SEAS. Thus, not
only has Captain Zini developed a substantial amount of sea experience in a short time, he also has had
wide experience within the Royal Caribbean fleet.
With his roots in naval and cargo ships, one might expect that guest relations would not be a high priority
for Captain Zini. However, “I spend quite a bit of time with the guests. I walk around the ship a lot
during a cruise. It is something I like to do because it is great to meet a lot of people and for me, it is a
great way to know how the ship is doing. You hear right away when something is not up to our standard
because people will come up and tell you. It is a great way to feel the ship, walking around.”
An International Company
Like Captain Zini, Royal Caribbean is a young company. In fact, when Captain Zini joined Royal
Caribbean, the company had been in business only for some 22 years. Although an American, Ed
Stephens, is usually credited with the idea for the company, the original owners were three Norwegian
investors, I.M. Skaugen, S/A, Anders Wilelmson and Company and Gotas Larsen Shipping
Corporation. As a result, although the firm was headquartered in Miami, the ships were operated by
Norwegians and there was a strong Scandinavian influence, which is reflected in the names of the line’s
early ships: SONG OF NORWAY, NORDIC PRINCE and SUN VIKING.
The original idea for the line was to operate ships that were built for the purpose of doing Caribbean
cruises out of Miami. At the time, most of the firms providing Caribbean cruises were doing so using
former ocean liners that had been retired from the transatlantic market because they were too old or
because the market for crossings had evaporated with the advent of commercial jet service between the
United States and Europe. Stephens saw that ships cruising in the calm waters of the Caribbean had no
need for the long bows, low superstructures and deep drafts needed for handling the stormy North
Atlantic. Rather, they could be built with blunt bows and larger superstructures so as to maximize the
amount of passenger (i.e. revenue-producing) space on the ship. He also saw that if the cruises were
sold in packages that combined the cruise with airline tickets to and from Miami, the cruises could be
marketed nationwide rather than just to the residents of Florida. Thus, the company started as a
Norwegian business focusing on the American market for Caribbean cruises.
Today, Royal Caribbean is much different. “We are an international cruise line. We have 21 ships in our
fleet and this year I think we are going to 144 different countries. To have a large variety of classes of
ships is very important to us. Some people prefer itinerary versus size, some prefer the larger ships
because there is so much to do. There are people who like to go to Alaska or the Panama Canal. They
cannot go on [LIBERTY OF THE SEAS] because this ship is not Panamax, so we have the other
beautiful ships, the Radiance-class, the Vision-class. If they like to make three or four day cruises, we
have just finished the renovation of all the Sovereign-class ships, the SOVEREIGN, MAJESTY and
MONARCH.”
While Royal Caribbean still maintains a sizable presence in the Caribbean, the company is expanding into
other areas as well. “There are going to be seven ships altogether between [RCI affiliate] Celebrity
[Cruises] and Royal Caribbean [in Europe], next year. Europe is our biggest growing market right now.
We are growing in Europe at a rate higher than the travel industry. Basically, we are not just competing
with other cruise lines, we are also showing that cruising can be a better vacation experience than
something else. So, we are really competing with all the shoreside land-based resorts.”
“When I was, on the GRANDEUR in 2002, the demographics were like 60 % Americans and 40%
Europeans. I would think now it is more like 50/50. So, the European market is growing a lot. You
see a lot more Europeans cruising altogether whether it is at home or on this side [of the Atlantic].”
Although Royal Caribbean’s style of cruising remains distinctly American, marketing the cruises
internationally means that the line must make some adjustments in order to accommodate passengers
from different nations. “We have a position onboard that is called International Ambassador. We
support five core languages onboard our ship. All our programs, communication flyers, TV
advertisements for the daily activities, the safety announcements include five core languages. Then, of
course, we have crew members aboard from all over the world and it is very rare that any one of our
crew members will speak only one language. They all have to speak English, which is the working
language [onboard], and coming from all over the world they already speak another language. When we
position a ship in a particular market where we know a particular language will have a strong presence,
we take some crew members [from other ships] that have that skill. So, when we go to the
Mediterranean and we know that we have a lot of Spanish speaking guests there, we try to take some of
our Spanish-speaking crew members to be there.”
Indeed, Royal Caribbean has an international work force. “We have hiring departments all over the
world. We are a very international company. I think the last time I checked we had 200 nationalities in
the company. On the ships, we cover 60 to 65 different nationalities. Having said that, a couple of
nationalities are very strong amongst the crew - - the Philippines is one; India, we have quite a few; a
growing number from South Africa; the Caribbean, Jamaica, and we have a lot of people from eastern
European countries. South America is growing more and more. We need to expand all over the world,
not only in our market but also in our recruitment. That is the truly international part of the company.”
This includes the ship’s officers as well. “It started as a Norwegian company. From there, we have
always had a strong Scandinavian presence. But, more and more, we have expanded into other places in
the world. We have officers from Canada, from other parts of Scandinavia - - Sweden, Poland,
Croatia, and Eastern Europe again. We have a few from South America.”
The Biggest Ship
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS is 154,000 gross tons making her the largest cruise ship in terms of tonnage -
- a record she shares with her fleetmate FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. However, at 1,414 feet long and
185 feet wide, she is slightly smaller than Cunard’s QUEEN MARY 2 in physical space. This disparity
is explained by the fact that gross tonnage is not a measure of weight but rather of revenue producing
space. Consequently, since LIBERTY is more box-like in shape than QM2, which requires a more
streamlined shape in order to do fast North Atlantic crossings, LIBERTY has a larger gross tonnage than
QM2. A similar situation occurred in the late 1980s when SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS (73,100
gross tons) became the world’s largest cruise ship even though her physical dimensions were smaller than
QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 (70,000 gross tons). In any event, since gross tonnage is the accepted
standard for measuring cruise ships, LIBERTY and FREEDOM now hold the title.
“We can carry about 5,700 people. Then, 1,400 of those are crew members so that leaves you with a
capacity of 4,300 passengers.” This includes upper berths. The double occupancy passenger capacity
is 3,634.
Unlike most ships who have celebrities or spouses of government officials as the “godmother” or
“sponsor”, the godmother of LIBERTY is Donnalea Madeley, a Canadian travel agent. Ms. Madeley
was selected by Royal Caribbean from 2,500 nominations of women travel agents because of her
philanthropic work. However, the fact that Royal Caribbean limited the universe of nominees to travel
agents underscores their importance to the line. “We do our business through travel agents. We really
value their work. I see more and more the travel agents having a very vital role in our operations. We
have provided the industry and market with wonderful ships and wonderful well-trained crews. I think
we have a very good product and we very much depend upon them to tell the world what we have.”
LIBERTY is the second ship in the Freedom-class, which “is a continuation of the successful Voyager-
class,” with an extra section that lengthens the ship and adds extra space. As a result, the ship is similar
in layout and amenities not only to FREEDOM OF THE SEAS but to the five-ship series that began
with VOYAGER OF THE SEAS. “Different parts of the ships have different colors - - we do that
purposely so as to have a unique feeling. Within that, there are certain areas that we know are working
so well that we don’t want to touch them. For instance, the dining room; all the ships since
EXPLORER, which was the second one, it is pretty much the same - - the same colors, the same look,
it works pretty well. But the theater, it is all different - - all different colors. The Royal Promenade, is
the same but the décor, the walls, the lounges along the Promenade changed slightly. Without changing
too much the layout, we do change the finished product and the colors.”
Indeed, the change in artwork and color give LIBERTY a more restrained feel than her older sister.
While FREEDOM featured statues of giant swimmers and jet aircraft hanging from the ceiling, on
LIBERTY there is “a different theme to the art work: Illusion and Reality.” Developed by French artist
Miguel Chevalier, the artwork features installations in long ribbon-like shapes upon which are projected
lights that vary with the amount of traffic in the area. In addition, the use of muted yellows and ochre give
the ship a pleasant atmosphere. “I like the feeling of the ship walking around. She feels fresh.”
Having had the benefit of building and sailing a nearly identical ship, Royal Caribbean was able to
incorporate some technical improvements into LIBERTY. “The main difference was in the refinement of
the waste plant - - re-routing some of the pipes and equipment. And basically, it is working extremely
well. Not only that but we have gone to a closed loop system. We had some issues before with smell
going out and now we have no smells. We are very pleased with the progress. There was some
experimentation with the engine utilization and fuel with fuel hoses. Those are the two main technical
issues and there were very small details here and there.”
Royal Caribbean is also sharing the experience it gained during FREEDOM’S first season to ensure the
success of LIBERTY’S first season. “I think we have about 7 or 8 percent of crew members from the
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. We also have about 30 or 35 percent with Voyager-class experience, so
the environment is not completely different to them. On the management side, I would say that 80
percent of our managers have start-up team experience. Some of the core team members are part of the
[company’s] start-up team. They move from ship to ship to ship in order to get the ship out. Then they
hand it over. It is not involved in every position but we try to have at least a degree of that because the
learning curve is very fast. You don’t really have time to find out what is happening. You need to fit in
and be doing it right away.”
Inasmuch as the amenities on LIBERTY such as the Flow-rider surf simulator, the boxing ring, the ice
skating rink, and the hot tubs cantilevered out over the sea from the upper deck are on FREEDOM,
Royal Caribbean decided to make LIBERTY the platform for debuting several new passenger
programs. These included a new “Vitality” program which includes counseling about food, physical
training and themes shore excursions, an enhanced wedding-at-sea program, and additional programs for
young cruisers and children..
Even leaving aside what other cruise lines may do, LIBERTY and FREEDOM will not remain the world’
s largest ships for long. Already under construction at the Aker Yard in Finland is the first ship in Royal
Caribbean’s Genesis-class. This ship will be 220,000 gross tons and have a passenger capacity of
5,400. She scheduled to go into service in 2009. Royal Caribbean has also exercised its option for a
second Genesis-class ship.
In order to grow, Royal Caribbean, however, must do more than just build larger ships. It must also
work to ensure that there are port facilities that can handle such megaships. Captain Zini pointed out that
this presents two sets of issues for the line. “One is where you are using the port for embarkations and
disembarkations - - sending 4,000 guests ashore with their luggage with another 4,000 coming onboard
with their luggage in a short period of time, clear customs, immigration and everything. That requires a
very good facility and co-ordination. Because of this, the turn-around terminal is critical for us. Before
we open up a new terminal for turn around, we need to do a lot of ground work. We know what we
need and we look very closely before we select any turn around ports.”
“When you go to the ports-of-call during a cruise, the facilities that we need are different. The process
of getting guests on and off the ship is much simplified because you do not need to do any immigration or
customs and there is no luggage handling. We don’t have to do any loading because we do all our
loading of supplies normally in our U.S. ports. But, ports of call have other issues. You are sending
people ashore and you want to make sure that they have a good time and that there are facilities there to
receive them. We work very closely with our different business partners around the world to make sure
that they can accommodate us so we can grow together. When we grow the capacity here, it is
important that we grow the infrastructure.”
“Some places in the world, it is easier than others. When you are in Europe, the cruise industry is a very
small percentage of the total travel industry. If we go there and duplicate our volume, it is nothing for the
whole infrastructure ashore [to absorb] because we are a small percentage. But, when you go to the
Caribbean, and you increase by 10 percent [it is a major population increase for some islands]. So,
there we have to work very closely with our business partners to be sure that they are growing their
infrastructure at the same rate to accommodate us.”
Last April, LIBERTY emerged from the Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Turku, Finland where she was built in
“in great condition.” Crossing the Atlantic, she encountered some rough weather but “she is a big ship,
so six and a half meter waves, she makes them look small.” Indeed, even though the LIBERTY has
been in service for only a short time, “the ship is like we have been at sea forever. We have wondered
what we have missed and where it is going to come from because it is really totally good.”
Captain Herman
Zini (Photo courtesy
of Royal Caribbean).
Zini (Photo courtesy
of Royal Caribbean).
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