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Charles A. Robertson, American Cruise Lines founder, passes away

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 10 February 2020 10 February 2020

The Board of Directors of American Cruise Lines, Inc. announced today that Charles B. Robertson will be appointed as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. This appointment follows the recent death of Robertson’s father, Charles A. Robertson, who was the company’s founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive.

“My father was a visionary and pioneer of the cruise industry and it is an honor to lead the organization he created. My brothers and I have followed in his footsteps and will remember him as a tremendous leader, mentor, and father. We have prudently worked toward this transition, and with the support of our executives and employees, will continue our dedication to our guests and commitment to growth,” said Robertson.

Charles B. Robertson joined American Cruise Lines in 2003 and was named a Vice President in 2014. His direction at the company has been instrumental to American’s recent growth. Both his leadership and history with the Line make him ideally suited to the Chief Executive role.

Two Silversea ships meet as Silver Whisper becomes first-ever ship to visit Antarctica on a World Cruise

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 10 February 2020 10 February 2020

Guests traveling aboard Silversea’s Silver Cloud and Silver Whisper enjoyed a rare moment in the cruise line’s history when the two ships met in Antarctica's Wilhelmina Bay on February 4, 2020.

The rendezvous was a pioneering moment in more ways than one, as Silver Whisper became the first-ever ship to visit Antarctica on a World Cruise: Silversea’s ultra-luxury ship embarked upon the seven-continent ‘Legends of Cruising’ on January 6, 2020, and guests spent a total of four days exploring the Antarctic Peninsula between February 4 and February 7. During the four-day Antarctica experience, travelers enjoyed many immersive expedition activities, including expert-led Zodiac tours and adventures ashore, as well as enriching onboard lectures and workshops from the cruise line’s Expedition Team.

"The meeting of Silver Cloud and Silver Whisper in Antarctica is truly an incredible moment for Silversea Cruises," said Conrad Combrink, Silversea's Senior Vice President of Expeditions and Experiences Development. "It signifies the range of experiences on offer with our cruise line: whether traveling on the first-ever seven-continent World Cruise or journeying deep into the White Continent on the most luxurious ice-class ship afloat, our guests can enjoy a wealth of unforgettable experiences in ultimate comfort."

From mid-November through February each year, Silversea’s guests travel deeper into Antarctica in ultimate comfort, exploring the region’s ice-dappled waters, glaciers and geothermal beaches, and admiring the continent’s unique wildlife. Starting in December 2021, Silversea is making it easier than ever to explore the White Continent with its revolutionary Antarctica Bridge – an ultra-luxury fly-cruise service that enables guests to fly over the Drake Passage in business-class comfort in approximately two hours each way.

Travelers seeking the ultimate expedition experience will be attracted to Silversea’s ‘Uncharted World Tour’ – the first-ever Expedition World Cruise. Departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, on January 30, 2021, guests traveling on this 167-day odyssey will enjoy an immersive exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands, before tracing a path through the South Pacific, Australia, Indonesia, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and, ultimately, the Norwegian Arctic.

Ruben Rodriguez named President MSC Cruises USA

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 10 February 2020 10 February 2020

MSC Cruises USA, the North American arm of MSC Cruises, has appointed Rubén Rodríguez as President and he will join the organization on March 18.

Rodriguez’s role will be to help the business achieve further growth and strengthen the Company’s strategy in the US region, both in terms of its commercial presence and brand awareness, and leverage long-term investments made in recent years.

Reporting to MSC Cruises’ CEO Gianni Onorato in Geneva, Switzerland, Rodriguez will also oversee the development of its future terminal in Miami, Florida which is due to open in October 2022 and Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve in The Bahamas which opened at the end of 2019.

The executive is experienced in the cruise business, having worked for eight years at Carnival Cruise Line. He was Executive Vice President Ship Operations between 2009 and 2015, and Executive Vice President Marketing and Guest Experience between 2007 and 2009.

Prior to joining Carnival, he was a Partner and Managing Director at management consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group.

Rodríguez more recently was CEO of Great Wolf Resorts, North America’s largest owner and operator of indoor water park family resorts, between 2015 and 2017. In the last two years, he has been a senior advisor and board member to a range of international companies and private equity firms, engaged in investments as well as growth and performance improvement programs for brands in the travel and leisure sectors.

He has a degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton University, a Master's in civil engineering from the University of California and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Rodriguez will work side-by-side with Rick Sasso, Chairman MSC Cruises USA, Ken Muskat, COO, MSC Cruises USA and the rest of the local leadership team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He replaces Roberto Fusaro, who left MSC Cruises USA at the end of January for personal reasons.

TUI and Royal Caribbean expanding their TUI Cruises joint venture with the integration of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 07 February 2020 07 February 2020

TUI Group and its longstanding partner Royal Caribbean Cruises are planning to expand their luxury, expedition and premium cruise segment and to attract new target audiences for luxury cruise products. The expansion of the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises brand will be at the core of this strategy. The former TUI Group subsidiary will be integrated into the TUI Cruises joint venture, a successful structure having been established by TUI and Royal Caribbean since 2008.

A contract signed in Hamburg today values Hapag-Lloyd Cruises at 1.2 billion euros. The closing of the transaction is expected for this summer. Under the joint venture profit-sharing agreement TUI will report 50 percent of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ earnings. With the transaction, TUI and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. have agreed to further expand their partnership by using the proven joint venture structure of TUI Cruises also for the luxury and expedition cruise segment. The transaction is in line with TUI’s previously stated objective to deliver additional profitable growth at a lower level of capital intensity.

TUI Group’s plans for the expansion of the Cruises segment will be expedited by the transaction. As a result of limited global shipbuilding capacity, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff fleet are not scheduled for the next three new build deliveries until 2023, 2024 and 2026.

The integration of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises in the joint venture will allow TUI to participate in global cruise industry growth at a low level of capital expenditure.

The merger of TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises under the umbrella of the joint venture will create a leading European cruise company with a current combined fleet of twelve ships. TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will continue to operate their successful product concepts in the future. TUI Cruises will continue to cater to the premium German-speaking segment and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will continue to have an exclusive presence in the luxury and expedition ship segment. “The ships’ identities, service, quality and customer experience will remain as individual and unique as they are today. This will create significant advantages for the Group, for our expansion and for our investments,” explained TUI CEO Fritz Joussen.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is part of the TUI Group’s cruise businesses and is the leading provider of luxury and expedition cruises in German-speaking markets. Its fleet currently consists of two luxury ships within the five star plus category and three expedition cruise ships. A further expedition cruise ship has been ordered and will be added to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ fleet in 2021 to replace MS Bremen. In light of the transaction it is possible that the luxury and expedition fleet will grow in the coming years.

“Products and brands such as MS Europa and MS Europa 2 have international potential and appeal. Going forward, this will enable us as shareholders to take a capital-light approach to financing the ships and international growth within a joint venture framework. TUI and Royal Caribbean Cruises have developed the joint venture company on the basis of a strong partnership over the past ten years. The expansion decision is the next big step of growth for us – from a strategic and a commercial perspective,” said Fritz Joussen. Each partner will continue to leverage its core strengths: TUI’s strong brand and selling power combined with Royal Caribbean’s shipbuilding, operational and digital expertise.

TUI Group will use the transaction proceeds to strengthen the Group’s balance sheet and to drive its transformation into a digital organisation. The first stage of the transformation, which began in 2013, saw the company evolve from a traditional tour operator model into a successful developer, investor and operator of hotels and cruise ships, as well as destination activity provider. Now the next phase – TUI’s transformation to a digital platform organisation – has begun. Digital business models, as well as the Hotels, Resorts and Cruises divisions, will be the TUI Group’s mainstays in the future. However, growth and investments in hotels and cruise business will be less capital intensive. This ‘asset light’ strategy was announced in December 2019. Asset light expansion has already been adopted for hotel investments such as the brand TUI Blue and now also for the cruise brands.