The former boss of Princess Cruises, who led the line’s response to the Covid outbreak on Diamond Princess last year, believes that cruising “will change forever” after the pandemic.
Jan Swartz said “consumers have changed forever and cruising will change forever”.
Speaking at Clia’s Selling Cruise Day last week, she suggested passengers would be likely to choose to sail closer to home in the short term. But she added: “From summer 2022 onwards, we see great passion from guests to take flight and see some faraway, exotic locations.”
Swartz also reflected on the incident on Diamond Princess last year that caught the world’s attention as 712 cases were reported on board while the ship was quarantined off the coast of Japan.
Swartz said: “The past 20 months have been full of growth, challenge and phenomenal teamwork where we all had to dig deeper than we ever expected so we could drive through this epic storm to brighter days and smoother seas ahead.”
She added that responding to the outbreak gave Princess “an opportunity to demonstrate who we were as a company to come and front up to the world from a place of genuine care with a single priority to keep everyone safe”.
Communication that was “consistent, honest and transparent” kept crew, guests and shoreside teams together, she added.
Swartz told Clia delegates that British couple David and Sally Abel, who were quarantined on Diamond Princess and posted video diaries, had stayed in contact. “Support came from extraordinary places,” she said.
In December 2020, Swartz was promoted to president of the Holland America Group, which includes the Princess, Holland America Line, Seabourn and P&O Cruises Australia brands.
She paid tribute to agents, saying: “We recognise it has been a very challenging time for travel agents and we’ve worked to stay in partnership and collaboration.”
Swartz added that cruise lines under her watch had used the past 20 months to “significantly elevate the guest experience”, adding that every Princess ship had been fitted with Medallion-class technology meaning that passengers would be able to wear the technology device during sailings.
She added that the safety assembly process was another “small example” as passengers now watched the safety information in their own cabin.
More safety information is retained by the passenger, said Swartz, who added that onboard internet connectivity had been improved.