Richard Fain has led Royal Caribbean Cruises for the past 30 years with no plans of slowing down.
At 71 years old, the chairman and chief executive says he still loves coming to his office and "working with all of these wild and wonderful people" at Royal Caribbean.
"One day, I will get up and say this isn’t so much fun anymore, it’s been a good run but it’s time to move on," he said during an interview aboard massive cruiseship Symphony of the Seas.
"Or one day the board of directors will get up and say, you know Richard, it’s been a good run but it’s really time to move on."
He says he does not know when that day will arrive but everyone will say his tenure has been a "terrific time" when it does.
"But right now I am proud of what I do every morning and thrilled to do it and the board seems to be happy for me to continue in that role for now," he said.
"As long as those two things remain, then that’s what I will do."
Royal Caribbean always keeps an eye out for Fain's successor, however, as part of its company-wide succession planning for all positions, he said.
"Good succession planning isn’t contingency planning. It is to develop the people as an ongoing part of the business," he said.
"I think it’s an important issue that we pay attention to. We’ve been doing it for 20 years."
Plans for Silversea Cruises
Fain said Royal Caribbean plans to delve further into expedition cruising through expanding Silversea Cruises, a seven-ship luxury expedition cruise outfit that Royal Caribbean bought two-thirds of in June.
"They want those experiences and we see us in a position to offer some great experiences so we will continue to build on that. It’s too early to tell," he said.
"We’ve placed an order for a few more right now and I think that will continue to build."
Whatever Royal Caribbean's plans are for Silversea, one thing is for certain: founder Manfrede Lefevre will stay on as owner of the other third.
"I think we have a very good partnership with Manfredi Lefevre who founded it and I think he’s an important force in making it successful," he said.
