The gang’s all together

YESTERDAY marked a milestone for Royal Caribbean Group in Australia, with the combined 100-plus local staff team of Royal Caribbean International (RCI), Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises coming into a single office for the first time ever.

The event included a celebratory ribbon-cutting undertaken by the brand’s respective VPs (pictured), Silversea’s Adam Radwanski, Tim Jones from Celebrity and RCI’s Gavin Smith.

While Celebrity and RCI were previously co-located, bringing Silversea into the mix is a big move, and in fact Sydney is the first of the group’s global offices to incorporate the luxury brand, which was acquired several years ago.

Radwanski noted the Silversea team was also growing rapidly, with the recent recruitment of a new call centre cohort which operates locally.

“We are extremely excited to be here, and to finally feel a part of this amazing and inclusive group,” he said.

Jones echoed the sentiments on behalf of Celebrity, saying that having had “office envy” over recent years visiting the group’s operations in the UK and USA, “we’ve now got the best office space out of all the three main offices around the world”.

“The fact we can see our ships coming and going under the bridge on the way to White Bay, or pulling up at the Overseas Passenger Terminal is just amazing,” Jones enthused.

Smith recounted key elements of Royal Caribbean’s history in Australia, noting from small beginnings about 25 years ago the business had grown to more than $500 million in annual sales.

He also flagged expectations of future strong growth, with the new office having capacity for a 50% uplift in the team.