Kloster Cruise Limited has announced a corporate restructuring that will centralize the management of its two cruise divisions, Royal Viking Line and Norwegian Cruise Line.
All operational, marketing and financial activities will be centralized at the corporate headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida.
Rod McLeod, formerly President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, is now Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for Marketing and Sales for both cruise divisions.
Robert Walters is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Hans Golteus is Executive Vice President for Cruise Operations.
McLeod, Walters and Golteus will be reporting to newly appointed CEO Trygve Hegnar who assumes his post on October 1.
Joseph Watters, President of Royal Viking Line, will remain with the company at least through the delivery of the Sun Viking, but it is expected that he is leaving at the end of the year. Few of the nearly 200 RVL employees in San Francisco are expected to relocate to Miami.
Separate Identities
Although management of the two lines is being merged, RVL and NCL will continue to have separate brand identities. According to a statement from Kloster Cruise, there will be no change in the products or the way the products are perceived by the public.
The 34 District Sales Managers for NCL and the 24 for RVL will also be consolidated into one organization, with each representing both cruise lines, but covering a much smaller terrority.
The DMs will report to Brad Briggs, Vice President of Sales.
Both lines will also have separate Vice Presidents of Marketing and Mike Smith and Joe Garvey of respectively NCL and RVL have been asked to stay in their positions.
Reservations will also be unified in Coral Gables, but with separate phone numbers for the two lines.
While the move cuts costs for Kloster Cruise, cruise line officials said it was primarily designed to strengthen the line’s competitiveness in the marketplace.
In a prepared statement, Einar Kloster, Chairman, said that “we plan to penetrate today’s rapidly changing cruise market with a range of clearly defined cruise products. This move (the consolidation) also enables us to to strengthen our sales activities, improve services to travel agents and increase internal efficiency.”
Improved Earnings
Vard A/S, the holding company for Kloster Cruise, has announced that it expects a significant improvement in earnings in 1988 because of improved performance by its U.S. cruise operations.
Last year, Kloster Cruise is reported to have contributed $22.4 million to the net result. While net income for the first six months of this year was down at $11.2 million compared to $12.3 million last year, the company is expecting a very strong third quarter. Profitability in June is said to have been double that achieved in the same month last year.
The main reasons given for the increased earnings projections are lower operating expenses, increased demand, and the addition of the Seaward in June.
