NCL's Stuart Appointed Chief Product Officer

­Andy Stuart

Andy Stuart

Andy Stuart has been named executive vice president and chief product officer for Norwegian Cruise Line as his role expands in leading NCL's new Freestyle 2.0 initiative and in overseeing the planning and developing of NCL's two new 4,200-passenger F3 ships, it's largest ships to date, scheduled to enter service in 2010. Stuart's previous title was executive vice president of sales, marketing and passenger services and NCL says a search is now underway to find a replacement.

Stuart's responsibilities as they relate to delivering the freestyle cruising product will now be more "broad based" NCl says, while his role as F3 Project Chief will include planning, coordination and oversight as they relate to design, building, commercial and market launch, product development and operational delivery.

Back in October, Stuart stood at Aker Yards in France, ceremoniously leading the building launch of the F3 ships, which will cost about 1.5 billion euros to build. An option to build a third F3 ship is still under negotiation.

Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO, calls the F3 series the line's most "innovative and important project in NCL's history," and that Stuart has the requisite skills to see the project through. Staurt has been with NCL since 1988, primarily in sales and marketing capacities. Visit www.ncl.com.