Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced that hospitality veteran Drew Madsen joined as president and COO of Norwegian Cruise Line. Madsen has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the hospitality and consumer products industry, most recently as president and COO at Darden Restaurants.
“Having delivered exceptional results during his tenure at Darden, Drew has a wealth of experience to draw upon as he joins Norwegian,” said Kevin Sheehan, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. “We are at an exciting point in our company’s history. With the upcoming acquisition of Prestige Cruises International, it is the opportune time to add such a talented individual to our already diversified leadership team to focus on the core day-to-day business. I am confident in Drew as a results-oriented, highly collaborative and thoughtful leader who will continue to propel Norwegian on our positive growth trajectory.”
In addition to his Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings parent company responsibilities, Sheehan also has served for many years as Norwegian Cruise Line's president and CEO. But earlier this year, after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings announced it would acquire the Prestige Cruises International brands -- Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises -- Sheehan told the shipping publication Seatrade Insider that he envisioned that each of the individual brands would each have its own president and CEO. This appears to be part of that process. Agents can read that story here.
Madsen increased sales at Darden from $4.8 billion to $8.6 billion, while delivering a cumulative total shareholder return of 110 percent that significantly exceeded the S&P 500 by more than 47 percent. He also had the distinction of having Darden recognized as one of Fortune’s "100 Best Companies to Work For" – a first for the food service industry that was repeated for three consecutive years.
Prior to Darden, Drew held leadership and marketing positions at James River Corporation and General Mills, among others. Madsen holds a master of business administration with distinction from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in economics from DePauw University.
For more information, visit www.ncl.com.