Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd saw its reservations technology pushed to breaking point in the hours and days following the start of sales for cabins on Ovation of the Seas’ four Sydney departures, Cruise Weekly can reveal. From the opening bell at 9am on 18 Jun, RCI in Australia saw call...
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
saw its reservations technology
pushed to breaking point in the
hours and days following the start
of sales for cabins on Ovation of
the Seas’ four Sydney departures,
Cruise Weekly can reveal.
From the opening bell at 9am
on 18 Jun, RCI in Australia saw
call volumes over a 24-hour
period spike more than 200%.
Online demand was also high,
with www.royalcaribbean.com.au
website visits soaring 70% and
enquiries from travel agents
using the new Espresso platform
skyrocketing with a 177% spike.
Royal Caribbean Int’l commercial
director Sean Treacy told CW the
response from the cruising public
had exceeded his expectations.
“In preparation for the
increased level of online
activities, our team were on hand
in case of any technical issues,
and while the increase in calls,
Espresso and website traffic
certainly pushed capabilities, we
are pleased to report that we’ve
received positive feedback from
our friends and fans.”
From the time Ovation was
announced as being based for a
short season in Sydney, demand
saw over 200,000 people register
their details to be kept informed
as the sales date approached.
Treacy added the popularity
of the ship was testament to
the strength and demand of the
Australian market for cruising.
“Ovation of the Seas is certainly
the star of the show this week,
but we’re also seeing an increase
in interest in our brand and fleet
more widely in Australia and New
Zealand,” he added.
The public interest for Royal
Caribbean also funnelled through
to the line’s four other Australianbased
ships Voyager of the Seas,
Explorer of the Seas, Radiance of
the Seas and Legend of the Seas
as well as Celebrity Solstice.
While thousands of bookings on
Ovation have so far been made,
staterooms are still available for
the Quantum-class ship.
MEANWHILE, RCI’s third
Quantum-class ship is coming
together, with the first block
floated out of the Hapag-Lloyd
shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.
Ovation will be complete midnext
year & will first base in China
before reaching Australia in Dec.
