All the fun of a very important anniversary

This article first appeared in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read other articles, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats

Appointed in 2013 as President of Princess Cruises, Jan Swartz is by no means a new face or an outside hire. She is actually a Princess veteran, involved with the cruise line for at least 15 years – although she acknowledges that such a tenure, held up against her predecessor Alan Buckelew’s 35 years, “must make me look very new”. Buckelew left to take a post with the corporate parent.

In that case, for Princess, it may be just what the doctor ordered – an infusion, at the top, of fresh blood and youthful energy on the occasion of the line’s 50th anniversary in 2015 and its attendant celebrations. Starting operations in November 1965 with a single vessel, the Princess Patricia, the line began its story with fabulous cruises to Mexico.

The business really took off when, in the mid-1970s, Hollywood TV producer Douglas Cramer scouted a Princess ship, the Sun Princess, in Mexico as the location for the movie pilot of what later became the ‘Love Boat’ TV series.

The TV show and Princess then became indelibly linked in the public mind. Princess slowly but surely became known as the ‘Love Boat’ line. The show enjoyed a remarkable 10-year prime-time tenure and a 20-year tenure in various subsequent incarnations. It didn’t just manage to raise the line’s profile; it introduced millions of viewers to contemporary cruising as a whole.

Of course, Swartz brings to the table not just relative youth and energy at a critical and vastly more contemporary moment, so to speak, in the line’s history. She has plenty of business savvy, training and experience, too. She is a cruise line sales and marketing whiz – coming first out of the University of Virginia in economics and English, then graduating from Harvard Business School.

Her first job was with Bain & Company, the esteemed consulting firm made famous by one of its old CEOs, Mitt Romney, the Republican US presidential candidate in 2012. After Bain, though, Swartz’s career and background focused wholly on Princess – in particular, her efforts to maximise sales and promote other forms of strategic growth at the line.

Especially since the early 2000s, when Swartz joined Princess, the line has grown to a formidable power and brand in the cruise industry. It is the third-largest cruise line, to be sure, but is better described as a worldwide cruise and tour concern, with a fleet numbering 18 ships, carrying almost two million passengers a year, operating in more than 60 countries.

The big newsworthy development at the line, no doubt timed in part to coincide with the 50th anniversary, is the production of its three new, 141,000-143,000gt, 3,600-passenger, Royal-class vessels: the Royal Princess, which debuted in 2013; the Regal Princess, which debuted in 2014; and a third sister, announced last year, slated to debut in 2017.

The ships were or will be built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Italy. Their signature features include, says Swartz, “eighty per cent of our staterooms having balconies; a soaring atrium hub with dining, entertainment and retail venues; our adults-only Sanctuary; our Movies Under the Stars huge-screen cinema; and an international piazza.”

That last feature most excites Swartz. “The Regal and the Royal have been great additions to the Princess Fleet with many stunning features. Most stunning of all, I think, is the international piazza – the creation of an onboard piazza as really the heart of the ship, a place where everyone gathers to enjoy various bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.”

Swartz stresses that the third sister ship will have most if not all of these signature features of the Royal class as well as a new, larger theater. “So while there are many common elements to the Royal-class experience – indeed, to our fleetwide Princess international product – there are also many unique features, such as the Seaview Bar, the Skywalk, the Princess Live TV studio, the Retreat Pool – that you can’t experience anywhere else on the Princess fleet.

“At the Retreat Pool in particular, we’re doing some fabulous outdoor night-time events in the Caribbean, like top-deck parties. There are a number of new venues onboard those ships that are not found on other Princess ships – features unique to the Royal-class ships.”

As to which of its own distinctive features the third ship in class will proudly embody, “we will be revealing that over time as we build up to the 2017 debut date,” says Swartz. “At this point, all we’ve announced is that we’ll be taking delivery of the third sister – so stay tuned.”

The other big news at the line is the planned panoply of 50th anniversary-related events and garnishes to the onboard experience – with many actually in place or in motion – by no means limited to the Royal and Regal Princess (both of which are deployed to the Caribbean for fall and winter, and to the Baltic, Europe and the Mediterranean for late spring and summer).

Last November’s naming party for Regal Princess in Ft. Lauderdale, according to Swartz, served as the bona fide 50th anniversary kickoff event. “It brought various members of the ‘Love Boat’ cast onboard, among other celebrities, to draw attention not just to the second member of the Royal class, but generally to our new capacities, attractions and direction. It was a really sentimental, hugely special moment for Princess. The celebrity guests always joke that there are many TV shows that have run for years, but there’s only one with its own alumni association,” says Swartz. “They’re just an incredible resource and so helpful to our brand.”

Among the newly announced anniversary features on 2015 cruises, which most impress Swartz? “We’re looking at a fantastic year-long celebration, where we pay homage to our history and the role ‘The Love Boat’ played in publicising Princess and contemporary cruising as a whole.

“One of my personal favourites will be the new ‘Love Boat’ deck party, done on the top deck with really great entertainment – clips from the series, messages from each of the officers of the ‘Love Boat’ to our guests; entertainers and dancers who will reinforce the retro nature of that party. So that’s a great signature feature for the year.

“My second favorite anniversary feature is our very new and inventive menus. Basically we’ve taken some highly favoured dishes of each decade and integrated them into a very special 50th anniversary menu, so that our guests can enjoy a taste of each decade over the years. So there are some truly fabulous, top-quality menus. We expect guests to have fun sharing stories, recalling what they used to eat in the day.”

How successful was the first Caribbean cruise season for the Regal Princess? “I’d say she’s had a very successful inaugural introduction to North America indeed. For starters, we had that exciting kickoff in November to the first Caribbean season that gathered all the celebrity guest stars…so we had everybody from the past come and we just had a great time as Regal was introduced to the North American market. “Thereupon, in tandem with Royal, she began sailing from Ft. Lauderdale on 10-day cruises for her first Caribbean season. I think everybody who’s been onboard Regal since then has just been over the top in terms of their appreciation of all of her special features and quite simply her overall elegance. At the same time, with all those new features, she’s a totally comfortable ship.”

Swartz also mentions that, coincident with the 50th anniversary, the line will address in a new manner Alaska – like the Caribbean, one of its most durable destinations over the years.

“This summer we’re rolling out ‘North to Alaska’, a new product initiative that I’m really excited about. We believe it takes the Princess Alaska experience to a whole new level – with multiple dimensions on the culinary front, by the way. We’ve partnered with incredible Alaskan chefs…and then, on the flipside, we’ve introduced some really fun partnerships with local ‘dive’ eateries that are absolutely fabulous…featuring the most popular things to eat in a variety of ports that we sail to. We have also partnered with the Alaska Seafood Institute – they’re training all of our chefs, so we’re going to be featuring a new array of seafood on all of our sailings this 2015 season.

“Then there are new guest lecturers, new guest participation events and some wonderful plans, through our partnership with Discovery Consumer Products, for Discovery-recommended and Animal Planet-recommended exclusive shore excursions. So, I’m quite excited about the new lineup that Princess will be offering in Alaska this summer, like so much else going on this year.”