For many, a vacation on a cruise ship brings up images of retirees basking in the sun or playing bingo. Royal Caribbean wants to change that with a brand new ship.
The new “Symphony of The Seas”, which cost $1.5 billion to build, is outfitted with everything from ice skating rinks to water slides to zip lines, Michael Bayley, the company’s President and CEO, told Cheddar Wednesday. It’s scheduled for its maiden voyage in the next few weeks.
“A lot of people have a stereotypical perspective of cruising,” said Bayley. But the company is offering “experiences, features that we think are really attractive to millennials. [And] we have short products, short breaks.”
Royal Caribbean’s stock has outperformed rivals such as Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines over the past year, but did see a pullback in December after [two](http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/royal-caribbean-cruise-passengers-gastro-intestinal-illness-sickness-bug-norovirus-ovation-of-the-a8095611.html) [separate](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/12/17/hundreds-get-sick-royal-caribbean-cruise-again/959102001/) instances of passengers getting sick. The company, though, still reported better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter.
The cruise line has focused marketing efforts on digital communications to capture the attention of tech-savvy millennials.
“We’ve moved pretty much all of our marketing, advertising from traditional to digital,” explained Bayley.
“We’ve been quite focused on attracting new-to-cruise [passengers] through our communication and through the way we present our product and the experiences that you can have,” he said.
“A lot of that is built on demolishing these perceptions that...it’s going to be really just for older people and there’s really nothing to do, which is so far from the truth.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/royal-caribbean-gets-ready-to-launch-the-worlds-largest-cruise-ship).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
