Bouldin said he believed the industry would switch from being "promotion and price-led", as he described it during the last 18 months, to a new approach extolling the sector’s stringent health and safety record.

"What I think you will see is a massive surge of energy and investment around what a safe place a cruise holiday is and particularly a holiday with Royal Caribbean," he told trade partners during a conference call on Friday (1 May).

"It’s been a very competitive marketplace with more guests wanting to travel than potentially the capacity we have had as an industry, that is going to change.

"The facts are – there will be fewer people who want to travel now then there were a year ago and the reality is you have got more capacity now than a year ago."

He said potential restrictions on load factors and the financial impact of implementing new onboard protocols could also herald a shift in pricing.

"We will have to prove and demonstrate we can look after our guests in every eventuality. There will be significant costs that the cruise industry will have to take on as a result of the measures and the protocols that we sign up to.

"I think that’s really a challenge for us to make sure cruising remains an affordable opportunity but at the same time, a very safe one for everyone to enjoy."

Bouldin said it would be "a balancing act" to ensure pricing stayed competitive in future while not "undermining" customers who had already booked.

Assessing how the current pandemic could impact Royal’s 2021 itinerary schedule, Bouldin said the line was "very much at the mercy of where we go, which ports open up and when".

"By in large our ambition is to keep as much of the integrity of our 2021 programme whole as we can. We’re looking at everything from the length of the cruises we’re sailing to the conditions in the markets which we’re planning to sail to [and] where they are on their Covid-19 journey. Lots of things are up in the air," he said. 

Discussing Royal’s commitment to the UK and Irish travel trade, he stressed to agents: "I’m going to need you guys to help us to essentially rebuild our business. There will be no shortage of ask from us of you, there will no shortage of things we need your support with. I’ll need you tomorrow even more than I needed you yesterday."

Asked how the current suspension of operations may impact Anthem of the Seas sailing ex-UK this summer, Bouldin said he believed the Quantum-class ship would arrive later this year following its dry dock in Europe. 

"We are still expecting Anthem back in the UK. I use the word ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. Once [the refurbishment] is done we’ll evaluate what we’re left with in terms of the season [and] what opportunities there might be to get some sailings away this summer.

"We’ve certainly not ruled out the opportunity. No-one wants to see Anthem back this summer more than me."

Bouldin added he was confident both Royal’s second Quantum Ultra-class vessel, Odyssey of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas, its newest Oasis-class ship, would be delivered on time.