Cruise line plans royal treatment.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - The steel frame for Royal Caribbean's $60 million call center should go up later this month, giving travelers along Interstate 5 a glimpse of things to come.

The 165,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in mid-December - a bit behind schedule. And soon, 50 to 75 construction workers will be on the site every day, said Tom Murrill, Royal Caribbean chief human resources officer.

While the facility is under construction, Royal Caribbean also is building something less visible: its local work force.

The Miami-based cruise line recently began advertising for a Springfield site director, whom it wants to hire by July. The company plans to hire about 240 employees by October, said Bill Martin, vice president of trade support and service.

That will give the company enough time to train its new recruits before the "wave period' - the first six weeks of the year, which traditionally is the busiest period for booking cruise vacations, Martin said. He oversees Royal Caribbean's 700-employee call center in Wichita, Kan., and its 900-employee center in Miami. He also will supervise the Springfield call center.

Royal Caribbean is expecting rapid growth at the Springfield center: 340 employees by 2006 and 1,000 employees by 2009. The company has committed to creating and maintaining at least 600 jobs in the next three years, in exchange for a $600,000 subsidy from the governor's strategic reserve fund. Royal Caribbean will receive a total of $1.3 million in subsidies, not including the value of property tax breaks it receives by locating in Springfield's enterprise zone.

Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said the company has applied for enterprise zone benefits, but hasn't yet calculated the tax savings.

In order to start training customer service representatives in October, Royal Caribbean will temporarily lease Symantec's former call center in downtown Eugene, Murrill said. Stream, an outsourcer that provided customer service for Symantec retail customers, vacated the space in October, when Symantec transferred the work to a call center in India.

Most of Royal Caribbean's initial 240 workers in Spring- field will be phone representatives, referred to by the company as reservation consultants, who will book cruises for travel agents nationwide.

The peak period for calls runs from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, so the company intentionally sought a West Coast site for its newest call center, Martin said.

Training of new employees includes three weeks of classroom work, plus two weeks taking phone calls as a trainee.

Royal Caribbean is conducting market studies on wages, but estimates that pay for entry-level customer service work would be $18,000 to $26,000 a year. Employees also receive full health and retirement benefits, plus cruise privileges.

To enable employees in their first year of hire to experience Royal Caribbean's product firsthand, the company treats them to a cruise, Murrill said. Employees only have to pay for tips, he said, adding that last year, several thousand Royal Caribbean employees took the complimentary cruises.

Applicants don't have to have call center experience, Martin said, but customer service and sales skills are more important. "We look for employees who are customer-oriented," Murrill said. "We'll train them on the technical stuff. We need that spirit and passion to support customers in a world-class way."

Recognizing that a pleasant and attractive work environment helps employees deliver that high level of service, Royal Caribbean designed its building with workers in mind, he said.

Architectural images show high ceilings, light-filled offices, and four terraces overlooking the Coburg foothills. "We want to take advantage of the beauty of the area," Murrill said.

The center will have a cafe and plenty of small break areas with couches and TVs - "relaxation stations," Murrill calls them.

It also will have a health center with exercise equipment and, eventually, fitness classes, such as yoga and aerobics, he said.

The building will receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, meeting high marks for sustainability, water and energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and innovative design, the company said.

The building's developer and contractor is Workstage, based in Gaines Township, Mich.

Workstage bought the 24-acre site and is developing the facility, which Royal Caribbean will lease, Murrill said. The cruise line has entered a 20-year lease, with two five-year options, Murrill said.

Royal Caribbean has similar arrangements at some of its other facilities and finds it to be financially advantageous, Murrill said. Royal Caribbean is responsible for maintaining the property, he added.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, with a combined 29 ships, plus two under construction. The company has 38,000 employees worldwide and serves 60,000 guests daily.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

Building a reservations call center in Springfield

Project: A $60 million, 165,000-square-foot building on 24 acres in the Gateway area

Completion: Mid-December

Projected employees: 240 when it opens in December, 340 by 2006 and 1,000 by 2009

Hiring time line: Currently advertising for a site director and technical support team; hiring customer service representatives in September. For more information, visit royalcaribbean.hire.com

CAPTION(S):

This artist's rendering shows the exterior and entry of Royal Caribbean's customer service call center to be built in Springfield.