Table Of Content
NCLH, until March this year, was the fastest-growing cruise company in the world, and much of this growth has been under the leadership of Del Rio. Frank J. Del Rio’s well-deserved retirement is the culmination of a remarkable career spanning three decades in the cruise industry. Before joining Norwegian, Del Rio headed up Prestige Cruise International—which operated Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises—from 2002 until its acquisition by Norwegian. He had assumed the NCLH leadership when Kevin Sheehan exited and brought in many executives from his Prestige Cruise Holdings team. He had served as chairman and CEO of PCH, which NCL acquired for $3b, including the assumption of debt, in 2014.
Become A Travel Expert
He will be subject to restrictions on competition through at least June 2024 and any time he is acting as the company's consultant. Since January 2020, Sommer has been helming the 18-ship NCL brand, which has 47,735 lower berths and carries about 2.2m passengers a year. At the same time, Herrera, 51, will succeed Sommer as NCL president, also as expected.
Norwegian Cruise Line Launches 2024 Europe Season
Del Rio founded Oceania Cruises in 2002, creating a new “upper premium” market space in the cruise industry. During his tenure, Del Rio successfully led the company in welcoming eight new and innovative ships since 2015, introducing the company’s second private island destination, Harvest Caye, and achieving industry-leading yields and financial results. Del Rio also led the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, the most tumultuous time in its 56-year history, and was a vocal leader and advocate for the entire cruise industry through unprecedented times as it worked to resume cruise operations globally.
Norwegian Cruise Line Announces a Huge Leadership Change
In November 2014, Chad Berkshire assumed the role of senior vice president of revenue management, leading Norwegian Cruise Line’s global cruise revenue, product pricing and yield management. During this time, he was instrumental in leading the Company’s strategy of focusing on value over price with the introduction and growth of Norwegian’s highly successful Free at Sea promotion. Del Rio has led the company since 2015 and prior to that led Prestige Cruise International, Inc., or its predecessor, which operated Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, from 2002 until its acquisition by Norwegian.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Undergoing 'Comprehensive Strategic Review' - Cruise Industry News
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Undergoing 'Comprehensive Strategic Review'.
Posted: Sun, 05 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The dynamic Del Rio has led NCLH since January 2015, most recently guiding it through the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown and restart. Under Del Rio, the company significantly expanded its fleet, introducing new ships and ship classes, private destination Harvest Caye in Belize and investments in Alaska and much more. Sommer, 56, becomes president and CEO-elect effective April 1 before officially assuming the role July 1. Jason Krimmel is the Chief International Sales and Marketing Officer for Norwegian Cruise Line.
“On behalf of the Board and the entire organization, I thank Frank for his invaluable contributions to this Company and the cruise industry throughout the last 30 years,” said Russell W. Galbut, chairman of the Board of Directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. Del Rio co-founded Oceania Cruises in 2002 with one ship, building up the brand with additional former R-class ships built for the defunct Renaissance Cruises, where he had also been a leader (but left before its 9/11 collapse) and ordering larger, new ships Marina and Riviera. Del Rio will serve in a consultant capacity as a Senior Advisor to the Board through 2025.
Norwegian Cruise Line just ordered four massive cruise ships - Cruise Blog
Norwegian Cruise Line just ordered four massive cruise ships.
Posted: Tue, 09 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Del Rio’s three decades in the cruise industry
In addition to his role at NCL, Sommer has recently assumed oversight responsibilities for all of the Company’s other revenue-generating functional areas, including Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and the tri-branded Onboard Revenue department. Effective April 1, 2023, Sommer will become President and Chief Executive Officer-Elect in a transitional role where he will oversee all three of the Company’s brands and tri-branded departments, reporting to Del Rio. In this role Sommer leads sales, marketing, revenue management, passenger services, itinerary development, international business development, and operations for NCL.
Changes on board
In addition to these leadership changes, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings also announced a 9% reduction in its shoreside workforce at the time, which the company called a “rightsizing” to align with its strategic priorities. Before joining NCL, Byrd served as a Sales Coach and Team Leader at Carnival Cruise Lines where she oversaw Outbound Consumer Sales. Prior to that role, Byrd was director of sales and marketing with Global Rent-A-Car where she was responsible for Latin America sales and marketing. Shares of NYSE NCLH traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.29. The company had a trading volume of 10,613,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,730,688.
Cruise Industry News Email Alerts
David J. Herrera, who has served as Chief Consumer Sales and Marketing Officer of NCL since 2021, will succeed Sommer as President of NCL, effective April 1. Before joining NCLH full-time in 2015, he served as senior advisor to PCH Chairman/CEO Del Rio beginning in 2012. Del Rio is to retire and resign from the board effective June 30 but will continue as a consultant. David J. Herrera, who has served as Chief Consumer Sales and Marketing Officer of NCL since 2021, will succeed Sommer as President of NCL, effective April 1, 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Herrera was founder and managing partner of Eastside Financial Group, a private investment firm.
Del Rio said passengers should expect the same sort of procedures that they find on land -- whatever that is at the time they cruise. When ships resume service, every crew member on a Norwegian ship will be tested regularly for COVID-19, "so that we know without a shadow of a doubt that they are 100% safe," Del Rio said. The CDC essentially has said it won't allow cruising to resume until it's satisfied that cruise vessels won't be spreaders of the illness.
This recent announcement of executive leadership changes at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is not the first time the company has undergone significant organizational changes. In December of last year, the company announced the appointment of new presidents for its Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises brands. The changes come as Norwegian announced that its current President and CEO, Frank Del Rio, has decided to retire.
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $22.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.32, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 2.60.
In their new roles, Sommer will receive a base salary of $1.1m, while Herrera's salary will be $750,000. Sommer also is entitled to an annual bonus equal to at least 175% of his salary, to be determined by the NCLH compensation committee, which also will decide Herrera's bonus. He also is entitled to a $2m consulting fee in 2023, and a $4m consulting fee in 2024 and 2025.
But perhaps the biggest issue cruise lines face is figuring out a way to keep the new coronavirus off ships. He offers a scenario where just three Norwegian Cruise Line ships resume operations initially along with a single vessel from the Oceania and Regent brands. From there, the company would add another four to six ships into operation each month.
No comments:
Post a Comment