Carnival Corporation & plc. delivered a series of surprises to the cruise industry on Nov. 4 with four high level executive changes, the first introduced by the company’s new president and CEO Arnold Donald. Howard Frank, who has worked closely with chairman Micky Arison for 25 years, will be stepping down from his current roles as vice chairman and chief operating officer to assume the role of special advisor to Donald and to Arison, while continuing to represent the industry as chairman of CLIA.
Princess Cruises president and CEO Alan Buckelew is being appointed to the newly created role of chief operations officer, overseeing all maritime and port operations around the world and group collaborative functions, including information technology; group strategy and global operations; ship retrofits; newbuilds; research and development; risk advisory; and quality assurance. Additionally, Buckelew will have oversight of Carnival Asia, with responsibility for coordinating all brand and related activities.
Jan Swartz has been promoted to president of Princess Cruises. She will oversee the Princess line’s worldwide operations. Swartz was previously executive vice president, sales, marketing and customer service since 2009 and senior vice president of customer service and sales for both Princess and Cunard since 2004. Previously, she was the company’s vice president of strategy and business development, and worked on the P&O Princess/Carnival corporate acquisition.
Stein Kruse, president and CEO of Holland America Line, is being appointed CEO of the new Holland America Group, adding Princess Cruises and Holland America Princess Alaska land operations to his current responsibilities of Holland America Line and Seabourn. Kruse also will replace Micky Arison as chairman of the board of MANCO, the U.K.-based entity that oversees operations of Carnival Australia, including P&O Cruises. Kruse joined Holland America Line in 1999 as senior vice president, fleet operations with overall responsibility for operations and newbuilding. In 2003, he was named president and chief operating officer and, on Dec. 1, 2004, CEO. In January 2011, he was appointed chairman of Seabourn as the corporate headquarters moved from Miami to Seattle.
