People Are Key
“My role is making sure that our brands are wildly successful and that the people within those brands are able to achieve the brand promise,” Stein Kruse, group CEO of the Holland America Group and Carnival UK, told Cruise Industry News. With 51 ships and some 60,000 employees at the six brands he is overseeing,…
Core Strategy Is Key
Having announced itineraries through May 2020, Carnival Cruise Line does its deployment basically on an annual cycle, opening up a year’s worth of inventory at a time, according to Fred Stein, vice president of itinerary planning. “Meanwhile, every day, every week, we are constantly monitoring the performance of all our products, and it becomes an…
Collective Planning Puzzle
This year will be a big year for Royal Caribbean Cruises with Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises introducing new ships. The new ships in turn are the primary drivers generating itinerary changes throughout the fleets, according to Chris Allen, vice president, deployment and itinerary planning, Royal Caribbean Cruises. Celebrity will be introducing the new…
Excelling at Diversity
Everything on the Star Legend’s deployment this year is new, with the ship now in the Pacific and seasonally split between Asia and Alaska. There are also new programs for Windstar Cruises in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and Canada/New England in a monster year of new itineraries for the Seattle-based six-ship brand. Planning for 11-,…
D’Souza’s Eclectic F&B Journey
At first, Linken D’Souza may seem like an odd hire to run food and beverage for Royal Caribbean International’s 25 ships and estimated 250 dining venues. He’d never worked in the cruise industry, never been on a cruise, and by his own admission had maybe never even seen a cruise ship before taking the job….
Ultra Lux Experience
The addition of the 604-guest Seabourn Ovation will round out the line’s fleet at five ships as the Seabourn brand marks its 30th anniversary this year. “Quite frankly that is a perfect way to celebrate our leadership in the ultra-luxury category,” said Rick Meadows, president, Seabourn. The additional ship will boost capacity and further help…
Major Revitalizations
Among the big out-of-water projects for Royal Caribbean Cruises this year are revitalizations of the Adventure, Mariner and Independence of the Seas, plus the complete refurbishment and transformation of the Adonia into the Azamara Pursuit. The company’s large-scale drydocking projects are overseen by the newbuild and innovation department, headed by up Kevin Douglas, vice president,…