Skift Global Forum Preview: Princess Cruises Is Evolving With History in Mind
Photo Credit: Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz will speak next week on a cruising superpanel at Skift Global Forum. Princess Cruises
Skift Take
Princess Cruises has a long history and widespread awareness, but the cruise line knows it can't rest on the past. President Jan Swartz talks about innovation, authenticity, and why diversity in leadership is good for business.
When Jan Swartz started working with Princess Cruises in 1997, initially as a consultant with Bain & Company, the storied cruise line was preparing to welcome the world's largest passenger ship.
By today's 5,400-passenger standards, Grand Princess was a wee little ship, with capacity for 2,600 guests. But at the time, it was a behemoth.
"At the time, we were acutely focused on 'How do we grow dramatically while preserving the personal touch of how we serve at Princess?'," said Swartz, who is now the cruise line's president. "And today we are equally if not more focused on that, and yet have an enormous array of new technologies and tools and great diversity of crew members to help us do just that."
In recent years, the operator, part of Carnival Corp., has expanded into several countries in Asia, launched a massive technology project called Ocean Medallion, and is about to mark its 50th year in Alaska in 2019. And, of course, Princess has added many new ships.
In July,
