PHOTO: President and COO Andy Stuart Norwegian Cruise Line.

Andrew Stuart, better known as Andy, was appointed president and COO of Norwegian Cruise Line in March after 27 years with the company. A high-profile and well-liked executive, he is a familiar face to travel agents since he has served in several top sales positions over the years as well as overseeing passenger services at times. Vacation Agent caught up with Stuart a few weeks after his promotion.

Congratulations on your new position. You certainly have a perspective of the company few do, after 27 years.
It’s very exciting. I started with the company in the U.K. office in 1988 when the business was almost insignificant, about 1,300 passengers per year. I had the opportunity to spend time on the European side of the business and then in 1997 relocated to the U.S. to do a bunch of different things here. It’s very exhilarating to be in this new role now at such an exciting time in the company’s history.

What makes this time particularly exciting?
We spent the past few years building a tremendous foundation for Norwegian Cruise Line. I see it as being in a very, very strong position now and we’re poised for some substantial growth with the arrival of Norwegian Escape this year and additional new ships coming in 2017, 2018 and 2019. We have a strong foundation financially and a very exciting product with freedom and flexibility at its core.

What are some of your goals in your new position?
I clearly want to continue the good work that’s been done in the past. I want to take the company forward profitably, and I want to do a great job partnering with our travel partners. That’s been an area I’ve been fortunate enough to work in for a long time.

I believe our position with travel agents is as good as or better than it’s ever been. I really want to grow that and strengthen it.

You’re in the process of increasing the size of the sales staff by 40 percent. Is that expansion complete now? Will travel agents notice a difference in their dealings with their Norwegian sales reps?
It will be completed by April 18. Every position will be hired by April 18 with the exception, possibly, of one shortly after that. Most travel agents will not have seen a big difference yet, but once we get into May and June, they should really start to notice a difference, either in the frequency of seeing someone or they’ll start to see someone. We haven’t had the kind of coverage we would have liked to have had. Our aim is to have the leading sales team in the industry, and we’re putting our money where our mouth is.

Our team in Miami will reach out to the harder-to-access regions where it’s just not possible to have a sales rep. We have a new team of people who will take some of the administrative burden off the field sales people so they can spend more time with travel partners.

Is the dust settling with all the executive changes after the acquisition of Prestige Cruise Holdings in November?
Frank [Del Rio, chairman and CEO of parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.] announced his new direct reports in February, and I think I was the last one to be announced. So the leadership team is very much in place. From travel agents’ perspective, the sales leadership team — with Alex [Pinelo] running key accounts and Nathan [Hickman] running field sales and national accounts — is very clearly in place. They spent the past six weeks making sure their teams are ready to support travel partners.

This is the family travel issue of Vacation Agent, so tell us what Norwegian offers families. You have a partnership with Nickelodeon for entertainment and characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer.
We definitely consider the family when we design new ships. There was a time when we carried relatively few families, so it’s very important that we do an excellent job of entertaining kids and families, as well as couples, young and old, traveling without children.

We have a fantastic children’s center, Splash Academy, the ropes courses and water parks. We also have spaces designed for adults who don’t have children to enjoy as well. It’s an important balance, and we work hard to meet the needs of children and multigenerational groups, as well as couples looking for a more adult experience.