CRUISE: STARBOARD CRUISE SERVICES
Starboard plots elevated retail course in crucial 12 months
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Starboard Cruise Services produced a retail masterstroke on Carnival Horizon earlier this year, but five other vessels set for the coming year means the global cruise retailer has its work cut out. Starboard CEO and President, Beth Neumann speaks to Luke Barras-Hill.
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VMH Moët Hennessy’s Selective Retailing division, which includes Starboard
Cruise Services, grew by 9% (organic) in the first half of 2018. How have things fallen into place for you during the period? We’ve had a very strong first half. We’re really thrilled how our approach to experiential retail on the new ships has really continued to drive the business. At Starboard, we have exceptional
talent onboard who are telling brand stories, developing deep connections and relationships, and managing incredible teams in a more complicated retail environment. The other fact is we have unmatched
logistical capability; incredible, trusted brand relationships, and are the leader on mega-ships. Now, we’re layering on one of the
most important pieces, which is really delivering bespoke, experiential retail and giving guests entertainment, discovery and social connection in this world of high technology. That puts us at the forefront of retail globally. It’s been an exciting re-invention and I feel we’re in the strongest place in our history.
Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas launched in April. Tell us how customers have reacted to the new retail offer? They are an incredibly innovative cruise line; every ship they bring out has something new, plus there are a tremendous amount of events on their ships. We knew we needed to deliver
A 3D rendering of Celebrity Edge, which sets sail in November.
to a new level. When you talk about delivering
change, the key to it is the people that are interacting with consumers. A couple of fun examples are a
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truth or dare game in our beauty environment where you pick a card and it’s either going to be a beauty truth – something you didn’t know or new to try such as the latest skincare trends – or a dare, like a new way to shape your eyebrows. We also do a race the clock trivia
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contest where people get into teams and have 60 seconds to answer trivia about Swiss timepieces. We bring together fun events to connect like- minded people who really want to know more and be taught.
a new level of shopping that gives the guests a sense of exploration, discovery and fun. The best proof for me is how the guests are reacting, which is critical, but Royal Caribbean employees have reacted and our own people are [also] enjoying themselves
OCTOBER 2018
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You previously told TRBusiness that the new Celebrity Edge due this year will promise a retail experience ‘every bit as ground- breaking as the notable ship’. How are these plans progressing? We’re working on the public relations timeline and Edge is releasing information about different aspects of the ship every few weeks. To give a taste, the guests onboard tend to be quite deep learners and the
Beth Neumann, CEO and President, Starboard Cruise Services
TRBUSINESS 51
but really the epicentre was the Caribbean and a lot of North American passengers. Now as we look, fewer than half of cruises are in
“It’s been an exciting re- invention and I feel we’re in the strongest place in our history.”
How have you seen the cruise retail landscape change since you started at Starboard and can you take me back to your first days with the company? When I came to Starboard I saw a few things. First of all, the industry had completely globalised, whereas 15 to 20 years ago the majority of cruising was in the Caribbean. There was European cruising,
experiences they are looking for are more in-depth. The discovery part is so important and Celebrity is opening up the world to people. Our retail approach is very much about that.
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