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Cruises

Cruise Execs Dodge the Industry's Downsides at Global Gathering

Hannah Sampson

Photo Credit: Cruise executives speak during the State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. From left: moderator Lucy Hockings, a presenter on BBC World News, MSC Cruises Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago, Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Richard Fain, Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio. Seatrade Cruise Global

Skift Take

The cruise industry is having a good run. But why not talk frankly about challenges and address them with meaningful solutions?

To hear the cruise industry's top executives tell it, everything about cruising is great. If only the rest of the world realized it. At the annual Seatrade Cruise Global conference Tuesday, the leaders of the world's largest cruise companies — Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and MSC Cruises — took on what they consider to be inaccurate perceptions about the industry. "Ignorance is amazingly difficult to overcome and perceptions are very difficult to overcome," said Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Richard Fain. To be clear, cruising has enjoyed robust growth. Cruise Lines International Association, the industry's trade group, said Tuesday that 28.5 million people took a cruise last year, a higher-than-expected number that represents a nearly 7 percent increase over the previous year. This year, 30 million people are expected to take a cruise. Publicly traded cruise companies have been consisten

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