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The Presidential Debate: Five Presidents share their thoughts

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We asked each of these five Cruise Presidents: 'What most excites you about your business development over the next four years?' Here's what they said...

Herve Gastinel: CEO, Ponant

It's an exciting time for Ponant in the UK as it has been identified as a key strategic growth market. Driven by our innovative itineraries, state-of-the-art ships, French style, and our committed relationships with the luxury travel trade, awareness of our ever-evolving brand has been steadily growing across our key audiences. Our connections with luxury, cruise and adventure travellers across the UK has been going from strength to strength.

Our fleet is composed of small expedition ships, our sustainability roadmap mandate monitors all emissions and waste and the world's only luxury icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot has two onboard laboratories, where scientists specialising in many different fields of expertise including climate and biologists work on subsidised research. This ship's Antarctic itineraries are a big focus for the UK market. We were founded by sailors and pioneers passionate about exploration and this ambition defines the Ponant of today.

We recognise that building the right partnerships now will underpin both brand awareness and sustainable business growth in the future. We are particularly excited about some exceptional future itineraries and with an extensive fleet, can offer a huge variety of polar options. We have a particular interest in attracting solo travellers with lots of itineraries with no single supplement.

Herve Gastinel CEO  Ponant

Natalya Leahy: President, Seabourn

At Seabourn, we are excited to continue doing what we do best: providing extraordinary, exclusive, and unique experiences both on board and at our destinations. We have introduced the largest number of product innovations in years, enhancing every aspect of our guests' journeys, and in particular The Collection of sailings, featuring unique, one-of-a-kind shoreside experiences such as exclusive access to private cultural events, fine dining at world renowned wineries and premium tickets to iconic tennis tournaments.

We have introduced Solis, a new fine dining venue that celebrates Mediterranean cuisine, incorporating the best local produce and protein, bursting with colour and character, handcrafted and prepared fresh daily. Zero @ Sea offers guests a unique array of non-alcoholic cocktails that provide a refreshing twist to the line's world-class beverage offerings and reflects the changing needs of our guests. Image Masters is a new photography programme available on select expedition voyages that offers in-field instruction on photo composition, camera techniques, editing and retouching, led by a nature photographer.

As part of our commitment to sustainability, we are excited that the Wunambal Gaambera Traditional Owners of Western Australia are godparents of our newest expedition ship, Seabourn Pursuit. Through this partnership, Seabourn will help to provide opportunities for steady employment for community artists who will work during the region's wet season and conduct commerce during the dry season.

Leahy_Natalya_

Rudi Schreiner: President and Owner, AmaWaterways

We are seeing incredible growth across all aspects of our operations. Our sales are surging, with advanced sales for 2025 well ahead of 2024. We're expanding our offerings with destinations like Colombia's Magdalena River, an entirely new frontier for river cruising. It's not just about exploration; we're forging new paths while contributing to the region's development. We're also strengthening our presence in Europe and Asia, with new ships on the Danube, on Portugal's Douro, and on the Mekong arriving in 2025 and 2026.

What really stands out to me is how river cruising is increasingly appealing to a wider audience, from younger travellers seeking more intimate experiences to multigenerational families. This shift in customer profiles is driving us to innovate further, like extending our European season with two ships starting as early as February in 2025, and three ships by 2026.

The increasing demand for European travel during off-peak seasons is making the idea of year-round river cruising more viable than ever. All of these developments are part of our commitment to innovation in river cruising. We're not just growing our fleet; we're expanding the very concept of what a river cruise can be.

Rudi_Schreiner_Owner of AmaWaterways

Christopher Prelog: President, Windstar Cruises

There's so much to be excited about at Windstar right now! In October, Windstar celebrated 40 years since its founding, and I'm proud to report we are poised for growth. I'm most excited about the addition of two new ships to our fleet. Star Seeker is a new build and will be delivered to us in December 2025, and Star Explorer joins the fleet in December 2026.

They each have 112 suites for 224 guests and fit in nicely with our Star Class yachts. I think our guests are going to love the suites with the infinity windows - a floor-to-ceiling window that opens up from the top for fresh air - which is a new configuration for us. Along with two new ships, we are expanding our cruise regions and bringing back Alaska and Japan.

We're also expanding our operations in the South Pacific with cruises to Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands. Over the past two years, we've begun sailing year-round in the South Pacific and the Mediterranean, opening up more opportunities for people to sail with us in these popular regions. Stay tuned, because I promise more exciting announcements are on the way soon!

Chris_Prelog_

Bert Hernandez: President, Silversea

I am exceptionally excited to continue focussing on providing our guests with the world's best vacation experiences. To accomplish this, we will continue investing in and growing our business. A great example of our commitment to setting the standard in experiential luxury travel, we recently announced a new development of the southernmost hotel on earth in Puerto Williams, Chile.

This project was undertaken to provide Silversea's guests with an enhanced, more seamless journey to Antarctica - one of the most remote, beautiful places in the world - and a more consistent delivery of our industry-leading service. Overlooking the Beagle Channel and surrounded by pristine forest and snow-capped Patagonian mountains, the 150-room hotel is a perfect symbol of our bold innovation and dedication to enriching the guest experience.

With its opening, we will further expand the most diverse polar offering in experiential luxury travel, strengthening our leadership in the expedition segment. We will remain at the forefront of destination delivery, culinary innovation, and personalised service excellence by continuing to push the envelope and developing new, immersive travel experiences for our guests.

Bert_Hernandez
Meet the author

Edwina Lonsdale is Managing Director and together with husband Matthew, owner of Mundy Cruising. Most recently she's cruised on Windstar and has also sailed with Silversea, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Crystal, SeaDream, Ponant, AmaWaterways and Aqua Expeditions. Her favourite destination is the Galapagos however she's also enjoyed cruises in the Mediterranean, Danube, Middle East, East Africa & Indian Ocean, Brahmaputra, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Mekong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Caribbean and the Arctic. When she’s not travelling she loves reading, food and wine.

More about Edwina

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