NCL Emphasizes Its Focus on Guest Experience – Cruise Industry News

Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, emphasized the company’s prioritized focus on guest experience at the company’s year-end and fourth-quarter earnings call.

The company highlighted its strategy to put all efforts into delivering an outstanding financial performance by providing a great guest experience.

“I’m pleased to report continued exceptional customer demand over across our portfolio through the fourth quarter, which drove net yield up 9 percent,” Sommer said.

“This is not a finance-driven organization; this is a customer-driven organization … to the extent that we can deliver extraordinary products; whether it’s on the cruise side or the onboard side, we can generate higher revenues,” he added.

Sommer told attendees that the company has a team dedicated to looking at its 13 different verticals of onboard revenue and to make sure that Norwegian is delivering them to guests, pricing them in a way that reflects the value.

“We (have) made important investments in our guest experience. A prime example is the now completed fleet-wide rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi, significantly improving the bandwidth, speed and reliability of onboard internet. We’ve also expanded our itineraries with additional ports of call across the fleet and enhanced dining and entertainment options, as well as new and exciting onboard activities and shore excursion offerings,” Sommer added.

During the call, Sommer also said that the company had formed strategic partnerships, including with the National Hockey League and also noted Regent’s partnership with the Aston Martin Formula One team, to further improve its guest experience.

“We have record guest satisfaction scores at each of our three brands, and that’s something that we diligently follow on a weekly voyage-by-voyage basis to make sure we stay on top of,” Sommer said.

“It starts with guests; it doesn’t start with financials. If we can get the product right and happy guests, the financials follow, which is what our 2024 results are a testament to,” Sommer added.