PG: If you just based your cruise choice on market share you’d go with Carnival. They’ve got 110 ships, they are the elephant in the room, and then you’ve got Royal Caribbean and then it drops down to you guys.

KS: It drops way down to us. I can turn any negative into a huge positive. As you know we’re on our journey. I believe that our brand proposition affords us the ability to grow to be at the upper edge of the premium category. It’s our responsibility to build this brand to that level.

PG: But when you came to the line how many ships did they have?

KS: They had a bunch of older ships that we turned back four that didn’t have the right proposition. It was hurting the brand. There were just too many things. People would come on one ship versus another and it would be a different experience.

We had no identity. In addition we called ourselves “Freestyle Cruising,” which you had to have a Ph.D. to understand what that actually meant.

PG: What does that mean?

KS: It’s simple. It’s what everybody wants. No assigned dining times, you go to entertainment when you want, it’s on your schedule, you’re on vacation.

For the past five years in a row, we’ve won the best cruise line in the industry because can you imagine being told to eat at 5 o’clock or 7 o’clock? That’s a leading indicator to me of what the Americans want and the more the find out they’re going to come in floods. We’ve got four new ships coming out… and in five years our ships’ average age will be half the other two competitors. What a competitive advantage.

PG: It is.

KS: With these wonderful ships that are game changers.

For  the latest news in cruise travel, check out:

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By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide