Cruise & Ferry Review - Spring/Summer 2021

5 0 INTERV IEW Plotting a course to recovery Norwegian Cruise Line’s Harry Sommer explains to Sam Ballard how he is helping to lead his company – and the wider cruise industry – out of trouble and back to full operations W hether it’s growing the new-to-cruise market, fighting for market share in an extremely competitive sector or overseeing a multibillion- dollar order book, the life of a cruise line president is rarely an easy one. The person at the top is responsible for thousands of guests as well as a vast workforce – not to mention being answerable to various stakeholders and investors. However, despite their adeptness at handling crises, virology policy and pandemic response were unlikely to be high on their 2020 agenda. These two concerns became top priorities when Covid-19 led to a ban on sailing in March 2020. As it stands, many countries have implemented travel restrictions and cruise holidays are not possible for many. Consequently, the cruise industry is now going to need to call upon all of its experience and innovation skills to rebuild and resurrect a sector that is on its knees. For Norwegian Cruise Line, that starts with a roadmap of guest reassurance and looking after its key assets. “The health and safety of our guests and crew are of the utmost importance to us,” says Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line. “For the past 10 months, the pandemic has heavily impacted industries across the world, including the travel industry and the cruise business specifically. As a result, both our shoreside team members and our crew members have been affected personally and professionally.” For Norwegian (and its competitors), the pandemic has caused operations to grind to a halt and put the lives of crew members on hold. New policies have been developed to better look after crew members’ mental health, including enhancing the wi-fi so that they can access streaming platforms and stay connected with family back home. Unfortunately, however, plans to rev up operations at the end of 2020 – which involved flying crew over to the USA – turned out to be premature. The restart was again delayed and Norwegian was forced to continue its pause in operations. The crew have been flown back home. “ The health and safety of our guests and crew are of the utmost importance to us” Work is progressing on Norwegian’s Leonardo-class ships, the first of which is on schedule to be delivered in 2022