• 6 min de lectura
• 6 min de lectura
It's been an eventful time since Marc Kazlauskas became Norwegian Cruise Line president in January, with a new corporate CEO, new investors and a board shakeup, reorganization and downsizing. New ships ordered and Norwegian Luna introduced. And, now, Great Stirrup Cay enhanced.
For this week's ribbon-cutting at Great Tides Waterpark, Kazlauskas brought many members of his leadership team. So did Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Chairman/CEO John Chidsey. They weren't just walking around observing or hidden away in cabanas, but out there, riding the slides.
"All the executive team enjoyed the park just as much as our guests did. We all had a great day," Kazlauskas said. "The fact that everyone from our executive team was in the park, experiencing the rides with all our guests, shows the difference in culture at NCL."
Helming Norwegian so far has been "fantastic. We are a different company from when I started — different in our collaboration, our transparency, our communication, the teamwork.
"Accessibility, communication and transparency are a big deal for me ... When I started, we were a very siloed organization, everybody doing what they thought best, with the best intention. But now we collaborate, we work together as teams. And that has been a tremendous positive for NCL. You can feel it."
Breaking down silos to get everyone working together and aligned is something Chidsey also stresses.
"We both come from a very similar leadership style," Kazlauskas said. "We both have the same intention. Him for NCLH, me for NCL — collaboration, focus, being maniacal about execution. Making sure we plan and we execute and we work together to achieve our goals. And making sure we're accountable, too."
Kazlauskas joined NCL for the opportunity to lead a company with the "incredible gravitas" of "creating modern cruising" and the first line to acquire a private island, in 1977. Yet it has "punched below its weight ... We have to do better."
With the hiring of Chief Revenue Officer Brenda Yester Baty, a seasoned cruise veteran, and CMO Lee Applbaum, who brings a valuable outsider's perspective, Kazlauskas' senior leadership team is complete.
Yester Baty is still recruiting for couple positions in her group and has "exceptional players behind her."
The focus is a disciplined approach to pricing, getting the booking curve right, putting the best pricing offers out first and baseloading business earlier.
This takes time, Kazlauskas said, "but we're rocking and rolling and we'll continue."
Applbaum came with an "incredible amount of consumer product marketing experience" and will be "outstanding for us and the cruise industry" because he understands consumer habits and the opportunity to convert non-cruisers with the value cruising offers.
"He has said to me 50 times 'I cannot believe what you get for what we charge,'" Kazlauskas said. "We have to communicate this."
He summed up: "Right now I'm feeling good. The team is humming. The team is working together."
During a one-to-one interview with Seatrade Cruise News, Kazlauskas expressed his delight with this week's Great Tides Waterpark inauguration, ahead of its Sept. 4 grand opening.
Everything was ready and running smoothly, earning Joel Garcia, VP construction and engineering; Capt. Patrik Dahlgren, EVP, chief vessel operations and newbuild officer; and Mark Kansley, chief experience officer, high praise at the ribbon-cutting.
Arriving aboard Norwegian Getaway with the NCLH and NCL executives, investors and financial analysts were more than 100 influencers with a global reach of 350m followers and nearly 50 international media. There's been television coverage by "Good Morning America," "Good Morning Washington" and WPIX from New York. Next week "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show" will be broadcasting on site.
Everyone "filming, interviewing, enjoying," as Kazlauskas put it. "People said this is a world-class water park" with the space "thoughtfully planned and built out so you're not waiting in line for a ride."
On Tuesday just over 1,000 people explored the park that was designed for 1,800 and is temporarily capped at 1,200 for a short ramping-up period.
The NCL president's favorite rides were Breakwater Blasters (dueling Master Blaster slides that propel inner-tubes uphill and through steep drops and twists), the Wandering River, the family racing slide and Tropical Spiral, a tandem nautilus slide. ("My wife and I did it together. We were giggling like kids.")
A single ship can currently dock at the outer berth of Great Stirrup Cay's new finger pier; there is ongoing construction for a breakwater. When that's done, two ships will be able to berth side by side.
Thanks to the dock, the number of cruisers who can visit will go up "exponentially," Kazlauskas said. About 50% of the calls in January 2025 were canceled for weather or waves that prevented tendering. All scheduled calls went ahead in January this year.
This is important for guest satisfaction as well as revenue.
"The island is a big part of the NCL brand," Kazlauskas said. "Multigenerational families are going to love our island because parents and grandparents can take a villa at Silver Cove and teens can go in the water park so everyone can have the day they want without compromise."
For NCL's core target market of "premium families," he continued, "It's paradise. We have plenty of space, plenty of beach space, plenty of chairs, plenty of umbrellas, 10 restaurants, 12 bars. There is so much to do and so little to do, it's completely your choice."
Great Stirrup Cay in the east is mirrored by NCL's exclusive Harvest Caye in the western Caribbean.
"Harvest Caye is every bit as nice as Great Stirrup Cay," Kazlauskas said, "except it doesn't have a water park. But it has everything else — authenticity, the feeling that you're in Belize, the space, the food, the lagoon pool, the swim-up bar, the zip line, the animal preserve, a naturalist.
"Those two islands will drive demand for NCL," he said.
And it's expected they'll command a pricing premium for itineraries that visit. Starting in 2027, some cruises will call at both, with more of those in 2028.
Kazlauskas arrived to an NCL facing challenges, yet he's confident brighter days lie ahead.
"We are a phenomenal company with a phenomenal future, with a great product and a great team," he said.
