This Week in Cruise: Five Big Executive Moves in the Cruise Industry

Joni Rein

A number of big executive appointments and shifts topped the news in the cruise industry this past week.

Joni Rein, vice president of worldwide sales for Carnival Cruise Line, announced that she will depart the company effective August 1.

Rein joined Carnival in 2008 as vice president of field sales and was named to her current position in 2009.  Prior to her roles with Carnival, she was vice president of sales development for the North American office of Costa Cruises, a sister company of Carnival.

Rein and her team have launched numerous trade support, education and engagement initiatives, including the Carnival Conversations travel agent outreach program. She and her team also created the Carnival Passport online education tool, completed dozens of major investments and upgrades to the line’s travel agent Internet portal GoCCL.com, implemented a dedicated trade engagement team for travel agents and created an agent rewards program.

Star Clippers announced the appointment of Mirell Reyes to president of sales and marketing for North America, South America and Canada. In this new position, based out of Miami, Reyes will head all sales and marketing initiatives out of the Americas. She will be working closely with the Star Clippers Monaco head office and their directors to follow and create worldwide branding. She reports directly to Mikael Krafft, owner and president of Star Clippers.
 

In addition to this new appointment, Reyes will also keep her current title as director of sales for Star Clippers Monaco, and still manages the sales and marketing efforts for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and partly Asia. Reyes has held this position since August 2008. 

Steven Simao joined Windstar Cruises as vice president of travel agency sales.

Simao will oversee domestic and international sales for Windstar’s retail travel agency channel. He will report directly to Joe Duckett, vice president of marketing and sales for Windstar.

MSC Cruises announced that Riccardo Casalino has joined the company’s executive leadership at its global headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, as the new chief marketing officer (CMO).

Casalino, 46, has lived and worked internationally for 20 years, leading various international marketing teams for Procter & Gamble Co., eBay (Europe) and, most recently, eDreams ODIGEO. He will report to Chief Executive Officer Gianni Onorato.

Finally, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. named Paul T. Parker its senior vice president and chief human resources officer. 

Parker joins Royal Caribbean with more than 20 years of experience implementing human resources strategies for leading brands, including Sabra Dipping Company, Deloitte & Touche, Colgate Palmolive, Campbell Soup and Nabisco Food Company. Parker will report directly to Adam Goldstein, president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

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