seatec - Finnish marine technology review 1/2012 | Page 36

RCCL claims that its existing ships are some of the most energy efficient in the world and Project Sunshine will take this approach one step further. MASTERING THE MARATHON While the construction of the new ship is kept tightly under wraps – and no word has leaked about the new innovations onboard – President of Royal Caribbean International Adam M. Goldstein has shed some light on the process itself. In a blog entry, he calls the project an “incredibly complex undertaking” with an unending series of deadlines meted out by the shipyard. According to Goldstein, the primus motor in the Project Sunshine is RCCL Chairman & CEO Richard Fain who is intensely interested and involved in all the company’s new ship projects. It is the job of the Executive Vice President Harri Kulovaara to make sure that the ships come out as amazingly as Fain has in mind for them to do. RCCL has a specialised department, Fleet Design & Newbuild, that deals with these issues. The chief designer at the unit is Kelly Gonzalez who works to turn executive visions into reality. One core belief at RCCL is that the marketing teams who have responsibility for understanding consumer desires and delivering the products/services should be directly involved in the newbuild creative and design processes. RCCL takes good care of the marketing and consumer angle, given the fact that the Executive Steering committee for Project Sunshine features the top three of the company (Goldstein, Fain and Kulovaara). The Executive Steering committee meets every month – usually for a full day – to go over critical aspects of the project. GET CREATIVE way it goes is that Kulovaara and Gonza- ones who always push back and the ones les are working with the designers on the who never push back. While RCCL looks various ship features and then the design- for new talent also, many of