New Crystal President Edie Bornstein is greeted by Symphony senior dining room executives.
We met with Edie Bornstein, the new president and COO of Crystal Cruises this week when the Crystal Symphony visited New York on its way up north for a Fall Foliage cruise.
There was a flurry of excitement in the cruise ship’s main dining room when Bornstein entered the room. The ship’s dining staff, known worldwide for its top service, was lined up, full of smiles and ready to greet their new president, who starts this week.
RELATED: Azamara's Edie Bornstein Replaces Gregg Michel as President of Crystal Cruises
Bornstein, who was leaving for Los Angeles last night in order to be at Crystal Cruises’ Los Angeles headquarters for her first day on the job, Wednesday, October 16, said she had been receiving an overwhelming number of congratulatory emails from travel advisors who were delighted with her appointment to the top post at Crystal. “Many of them have my personal email and cellphone number and have been sending me emails via Facebook and texts. The response has personally been overwhelmingly positive.”
Bornstein has a long tenure, 30 years in fact, as a travel agent advocate. Most recently, she was senior vice president of marketing and sales at Azamara Club Cruises, and previously she was vice president of business development and strategic partnerships for Carnival Cruise Lines, as well as a senior officer at Cunard and Seabourn Cruise Lines, where she developed strategic plans and led partnerships with several respected luxury brands. Bornstein early on was vice president of cruise and specialty sales, marketing and customer support for Amadeus Global Distribution System.
Bornstein alluded to the fact that she may seek to align Crystal with more luxury consumer brands, but cautioned that at this point it is early days and she doesn’t want to reveal too much of what she has in mind for the luxury cruise line. She also advised that she is keenly aware that Crystal is a widely respected, award-winning cruise line and does not have dramatic plans for changes. Her personal mantra, she said, comes from a quote from Bill Bradley, the NBA basketball star and former U.S. senator: “Getting to number one is easy; staying there is the hard part.”
She is also delighted to be working with the Crystal Cruises team, she said, noting that they are also widely respected within the industry and that many have been with the company for a long time. “This is an exciting time; I am so happy to be here and I’m really quite honored,” Bornstein told us.
Bornstein takes over from former Crystal president, Gregg Michel, who steps down today, October 15.
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