Popular cruise line hands over control of ocean freight shipments for European fleet to GeoLogistics Corp.
Santa Ana, CA April 15, 2005 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) has tapped GeoLogistics Corp. to handle its ocean freight shipments deliveries for its cruise ship fleet sailing in European waters under the Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises brands.
Last year, GeoLogistics was appointed to coordinate the European customs clearances, health formalities and time-sensitive deliveries to Royal Caribbean International's Europe-based cruise ships. With the addition of Celebrity Cruises, this year's shipment volume is expected to double.
The program, which began in April and will end in November for the 2005 season, encompasses the management of logistics, including food, hotel supplies and technical support items for each sailing at a dozen ports served by RCCL. GeoLogistics will manage Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises' ocean freight container customs, health and other formalities, as well as the physical deliveries to the cruisers.
Each ship loading entails six to 10 ocean freight container loads of supplies, including refrigerated and frozen food products.
"Service was the main criteria when selecting GeoLogistics for this part of the business," said John Weis, director of Logistics and Material Control for RCCL. "They have gone to great lengths to understand our business, what's important to us and the level of service we expect during the European season. They have a very hands-on approach and have adjusted their processes to fit our business, and not the other way around."
Another factor in GeoLogistics selection was quality of service, according to RCCL's Mandi Romine, the company's Transportation manager.
"We're driven by consistent quality service," Romine said. "We responded well to that style. GeoLogistics was selected as our European deliveries partner this past year and their service performance and the results were impressive."
Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean are based in Miami, with a major logistics center serving both in nearby Pembroke Park, Fla.
Main European ports served include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Copenhagen, Le Havre, Lisbon, Piraeus, Setubal, Southampton and Venice.
GeoLogistics operates offices in each of these markets and maintains a dedicated team to oversee all shipments. Customized online tracking tools were developed jointly to manage all shipments. Total door-to-ship visibility is available to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and GeoLogistics every step of the way.
"Our work with Royal Caribbean proved very successful," said Bill Flynn, CEO, GeoLogistics, based in Santa Ana, Calif. "We have now been entrusted with the Celebrity Cruises brand as well, whose logistics and transportation programs are managed by Royal Caribbean International's logistics team. Clearly, our hands-on service approach worked. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises are great global brands and we're thrilled to have them as clients in Europe, and look forward to expanding our partnership elsewhere in the world."
