Senior Contributing Editor Susan Young has traveled to Germany to board the brand new Celebrity Solstice cruise ship.
Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s chairman and CEO, addressed the nation's economic woes while talking to reporters onboard Celebrity Solstice Saturday in Papenburg, Germany.
"I hope they fix it," he said about the Congress' efforts to develop an economic response to the worsening economy. "Obviously, everyone suffers [in an economic downturn]," he continued. "These are troubling times."
But while acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, Fain also said the real strength of cruising is that the product throughout its history always has had "exceptional value."
He says that when times are tough, "the more they [consumers] look at a cruise, the better we stand out," particularly when compared to the cost of a land-based vacation.