Azamara Cruises has tapped Bert Van Middendorp to serve in the new role of Associate Vice President of Hotel Operations. Van Middendorp brings extensive experience in customer service, quality assurance and cost management in the boutique sector of the business, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations and Quality Assurance for luxury operator Seadream Yacht Club.

“Bert is uniquely qualified to help us refine Azamara and place the line in the sweet spot it merits,” said Azamara President & CEO Larry Pimentel, who joined the line in July of this year. “He has played an integral role on teams that have won some of the industry’s most prestigious honors, and brings a unique perspective, having served in a series of both shipboard and shoreside roles. He is an extremely well-rounded player who gets things done, and consistently wins the respect and admiration of his crew.”

Prior to serving as Senior Vice President at Seadream, where he was a founding member, Van Middendorp was vice president of Shoreside Operations and director of Operations. Prior to that, he held a series of progressive shipboard and shoreside roles with Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line, and earlier worked for Royal Viking Line as a Food & Beverage Controller and Assistant Purser. He began his career as a Front Office Manager with the Crest Hotel Group in his native Amsterdam.

Van Middendorp studied Hotel Management in The Hague, Netherlands, and Electronic Engineering in Deventer, Netherlands. He speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. Van Middendorp is the second executive to join the Azamara brand since Pimentel took the helm. Industry veteran Edie Bornstein was named vice president of Sales and Marketing for Azamara last month.