| Progress for Sydney port problems

Royal Caribbean chief Adam
Goldstein is confident that
Sydney’s infrastructure will be
ready for the arrival of bigger
ships next summer season.
VISITING Australia for the first time since
2009, Adam Goldstein, president and chief
executive officer of Royal Caribbean
International, believes the value of Australian
cruising is now “clearly on the radar screens of
the top people in government”.
Speaking at an exclusive media dinner after
meetings at NSW Parliament House last week,
Goldstein said he and Royal Caribbean’s
Australian management team had “very
amicable discussions” about the economic
contribution made by the cruising industry and
the challenges of Sydney’s limited infrastructure.
“I feel there’s much more focus today on
wanting to create solutions, but there is still a
long way to go regarding which solution and
where,” he said.
They also discussed the development of ports
“inside and outside of Sydney Harbour”, but
Goldstein would not name the prospective
locations for fear it would “stop dead” progress.
He emphasised that expanding docking
options in Sydney was “crucial” to the future of
cruising in Australia.
“Melbourne and Brisbane want to participate
but in my view, if Sydney is playing a robust
leadership role, all cities will benefit.
“I don’t think the leadership in NSW is
focused on that.”
He said he had a “healthy level of confidence
that the infrastructure will be in place” in time
for the 2012/13 summer deployment of RCI’s
megaliners Voyager of the Seas and Celebrity
Solstice.
Goldstein also admitted the company had
been surprised by the fast pace of growth in
Australian cruising.
“We expected opportunities to grow but we
weren’t anticipating the full roster of cruise
activities that we’re bringing here now and we
weren’t anticipating the haste.”
Gavin Smith, MD of RCL Australia, agreed
that the benefit of cruising was “starting to
gain traction” with all levels of government.
“We bring great investment to NSW in
particular… and we are bringing many
thousands of visitors from North American and
Europe to enjoy cruising here,” he said