Why didn’t RCI show off Oasis of the Seas in the UK?

Royal Caribbean International keeps saying that the UK market is a very important market for its brands RCCL and Celebrity, so much so that the summer 2010 season will see two of its largest and newest vessels homeported in Southampton.  Strange then that the line didn’t take the opportunity to show case its latest and most innovative vessel, Oasis of the Seas in Southampton today, when the giant vessel made a brief stop in UK waters on her delivery voyage to Florida to drop off 300 workers before crossing the pond. Of course RCI wanted to keep its power dry for the official naming ceremony in Port Everglades later this month. But it was an opportunity missed. In fact RCI PR people in the UK were claiming that they didn’t know when the giant vessel was arriving in The Solent, just issuing a bland statement saying that she was ‘disembarking 300 workers who do not need to be onboard for the full transatlantic crossing.’ ‘Off Radar’ just wanted to get a photograph of the giant on its first, and possibly last, UK call. Still the PR people said they didn’t know when she would arrive! They obviously don’t know about AIS. A quick check on the ship’s name at 09.00 on 2 November revealed that she was just off Margate, Kent, going 21.1 knots with her ETA Southampton (actually Spithead Anchorage C in The Solent) at 14.00 (she actually arrived at 16.30).  All that I needed to do was selected the right Wightlink sailing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne to get my unique photograph. It’s easy when you know what to do. But would have been a lot easier if RCI’s PR people had just given me the ship’s arrival time! A good PR opportunity lost.