fuel, and food for our crew, so we try and support suppliers that way. Of course, it is much less than what we operate with normally, but it is not insignificant and we are providing companies with business in a tough time. “In addition to Pay It Forward, we have also created a workstream with Ernst & Young to guide smaller suppliers towards a more efficient way of applying for government assistance. The US has a lot of initiatives in place, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, to help businesses with loans and keep that workstream going. “Right now, we are working with suppliers to understand their inventory position so that when we resume cruises, we can start pulling product that has been sitting on their shelves because it is good product, within the expiration dates. We just want to support these valued
partners. Our relationships have been built over many years of trust and collaboration, which is really helping us and them to come through this situation in a big way.” Though it is difficult to confirm an exact timeline due to the unpredictability of Covid-19, the ongoing rollout of a vaccine for the virus means that Royal Caribbean is already preparing to bounce back. Short cruises out of Singapore were the first to return in December 2020, and the firm’s joint venture with TUI Cruises in Germany resumed sailing in a limited sense earlier this year. Royal Caribbean aims to start operating on a larger scale as soon as possible, but customers will not be back on the high seas until the company and industry regulators are absolutely comfortable with cruise liner safety. In 2020, the
“Everyone is sick and tired of being inside and they want to take vacations. Bookings are very strong for later this year and 2022. Just recently, a big oil company came to me and said they wanted to buy hundreds of cabins for its employees on the first cruise back, so we have a lot of reason to be optimistic. When we bounce back, I think we are going to bounce back in a very, very big way
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