Barbara Muckermann, the new chief executive of Royal Caribbean Group’s Silversea Cruises, is among a growing number of women who have ascended to leadership roles in the cruise sector.
Their number includes two other female chief executives within the Royal Caribbean ranks.
In 2014, Wybcke Meier, a travel trade professional, was appointed chief executive of TUI Cruises, a 2007 joint venture between German tourism group TUI AG and Royal Caribbean. She succeeded Richard Vogel.
Three months later, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo was appointed chief executive of Celebrity Cruises, 29 years after joining Royal Caribbean as a district sales manager in 1985. Before that, she was a travel advisor.
Lutoff-Perlo had worked her way up the corporate ladder to become senior vice president of operations for Royal Caribbean International in 2012 and vice president of onboard revenue for Celebrity Cruises in 2005.
And last month, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings promoted Andrea Demarco to president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, succeeding Jason Montague.
Demarco had served as Regent Seven Seas’ chief sales & marketing officer since September 2021, after working as Norwegian’s senior vice president of investor relations, corporate communications & environmental, social and governance (ESG). She joined the company in 2012.
Carnival Corp has three women serving as chief executives for Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Group, which oversees Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn and P&O Australia.
In 2014, Carnival appointed Christine Duffy, also a former travel trade professional, as president of Carnival Cruise Lines.
Duffy joined the cruise industry in 2011 when she was named chief executive of Cruise Lines International Association.
She had previously been chief executive of Maritz Travel for six years.
Jan Swartz, who joined Holland America Group’s Princess Cruises as an outside management consultant in 1997, became group president in 2020 after serving as president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia since 2016.
She had become Princess Cruises’ vice president of strategy & business development in 2001, executive vice president of sales, marketing & customer service in 2008 and president of Princess Cruises in 2013.
In June 2022, Carnival appointed Marguerite Fitzgerald, a leisure travel professional, president of P&O Cruises Australia.
She was previously at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Melbourne, before moving to Miami for 11 years, where she led BCG’s global lodging and leisure practice and global strategy business.
Carnival gave other leadership roles to women in the sector last year, such as global chief human resources officer Bettina Deynes, chief communications officer Jody Venturoni and senior vice president of strategic operations Renata Ribeiro.
Other female leaders within the ranks of Norwegian Cruise Line include Katty Byrd, senior vice president of guest services since January 2022, and Daniela Jolodosky, vice president of brand finance & strategy since 2018.
The owner also named Jessica John as vice president of investor relations, corporate communications & ESG in September 2021.
