Princess Cruises has significantly strengthened its sales and service operation with the addition of two well-known cruise travel trade executives.
Cal Almaguer, a 38-year veteran of the cruise and travel industry, has joined Princess in the new role of senior vice president, sales and service strategy and operations, while ex-Crystal executive Carmen Roig has signed on as VP of sales.
"The addition of two exceptional sales, service and operations leaders like Cal and Carmen demonstrates our commitment to providing best-in-class service to the travel trade while modernizing the Princess omni-channel sales capabilities that will expose Princess to broader audiences and drive cruise bookings," said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.
"Under their leadership, Princess will elevate sales performance through unmatched trade relations and the deployment of new sales tool innovations in partnership with our Princess Experience and Innovation development team."
Almaguer brings extensive cruise and travel industry sales experience as well as contact centre expertise following his more than 20 years with Disney Destinations. His extensive cruise background also includes sales roles with Norwegian Cruise Line and Windstar Cruises, prior to joining Disney Cruise Line as a member of the launch team.
"It's an honour to be a part of the Princess brand, which is clearly at the forefront of guest experience innovation," said Almaguer. "My focus will be to expand the principals of the Princess MedallionClass experience grounded in personalized and hassle-free service to all consumer and travel trade interactions."
Joining Almaguer will be Roig, an industry sales, marketing and community leader who now will direct Princess's trade relationships, lead business development teams, and also serve as the sales authority across all Princess sales modalities including web, contact centres and onboard.
After more than 30 years of marketing, sales, and cruise industry experience, including the past six heading marketing and sales for Crystal Cruises, Roig is returning to the Carnival Corporation family after beginning her career with Carnival Cruise Line in 1981. She also previously held sales roles with Azamara Club Cruises and Costa Cruises.
"Carmen's proven track record of developing and implementing fully integrated and multi-dimensional sales and marketing campaigns with key accounts as well as leading high-performance teams matches perfectly with our desire to further energize our trade and overall sales efforts," said Almaguer. "With Carmen at the helm, Princess is strongly positioned to elevate sales strategies, intensify channel engagement and maximize revenue productivity."
In another significant move, after 29 years with Princess, seven of those overseeing travel agency sales, John Chernesky will become a Princess brand champion, a role that blends his experience, industry relationships and media influence with his passion for social media and promotion.
An early adopter and leader in the application of social media tools to maintain channel relationships, Chernesky will now be focused on promoting the Princess brand to consumers and trade with continuous social media engagement and activation at special events and new product launches.
"John's unique ability to engage, inform and entertain both guests and travel industry partners alike, developed through many years sailing on Princess ships and managing travel agency sales makes him the perfect choice for a brand champion with a voice naturally infused with credibility and authenticity," Padgett said.
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