In the two short years since she was named CEO of Crystal
Cruises, Edie Rodriguez has been on a whirlwind mission to not only grow but
reinvent her company. When she famously came into her job with a promise to
grow the two-ship luxury line to “seven ships for seven seas,” many in the
industry smiled knowingly at her presumably naive bravado. After all, this was
a staid, conservative line that had not built a new ship or added to its fleet
in more than a decade.
One person who took her ambitious vision at face value,
however, was Lim Kok Thay, chairman and CEO of Genting Hong Kong, formerly Star
Cruises and a major owner of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. K.T., as he is
known, decided that Genting would be the engine that powered Rodriguez’s
ambition. He bought Crystal and ordered the ships she wanted.
But he didn’t stop there. In short order, the company was
announcing one of the most ambitious expansion plans in the industry’s history:
a luxury yacht product, a river cruise line and a land-tour operation with two
luxury jets, including a 787 Dreamliner. He set a 24-month deadline to complete
the first phase of the expansion, and just to ensure that there were no
construction speed bumps, he also bought Crystal a European shipyard, an
accoutrement no major cruise company has enjoyed in decades.
Recently, Travel Weekly Senior Contributing Editor and
columnist Richard Turen invited Rodriguez to “Cruisebucks Cafe,” his virtual
coffee shop, for an email chat about Crystal’s shoot-for-the-stars game plan.
Richard Turen: Edie, I thought this might be a good time to
chat with you, since I understand that the past year has been kind of slow for
you, with not much on your plate. Welcome to Cruisebucks.
Edie Rodriguez: I’m LOL. My plate is full, and I’m loving
every second of it. I am a workaholic, so the more “all things Crystal” on my
plate, the better. Incidentally, can I get a nonfat latte to go with my plate
while we are in this Cruisebucks, please?
RT: No problem. I won’t even ask if you want decaf. I’d like
to begin with the “moment.” In all the reporting I’ve seen concerning Crystal’s
incredibly well-kept, secret expansion plans via new owners, Genting Hong Kong
— three new ships, a luxury yacht, a Boeing Dreamliner and a river cruise line
— I’ve not read anything about how it actually went down. Were you in a
boardroom when you got the news? Where exactly were you when you first heard of
this incredible level of commitment from Genting?
ER: The “moment” was when I was in a boardroom at J. P.
Morgan entertaining potential bidders for the sale of Crystal Cruises. On this
day, it was GHK’s [Genting’s] turn to come explore the possibilities. That day
was also our first meeting. K.T. [Lim Kok Thay, Genting’s chairman and CEO]
came in and said to me that he had read everything that was in print about me
wanting seven ships for seven seas for Crystal and that when he acquired
Crystal, he would happily give me all of that and more.
What I loved most about his statement was the “when,” not
“if,” he was to win the bidding war. Ah, the power of positive thinking and
determination! He is a man after my own heart with that kind of thinking. He is
also a man of his word, as he has in fact delivered on his promise by giving
Crystal and me all that I wanted for our brand, and yes, even more than he had
originally stated. Way more indeed, and we are not done yet. By the way, it is
currently not one airplane but two airplanes so far, Crystal Luxury Air, and of
course GHK has also invested in the shipyard building our new vessels.
RT: I guess that’s what we call an offer you cannot refuse.
Fair to say that the other potential Crystal suitors did not see the growth of
the brand in the same context?
ER: I am under [a nondisclosure agreement], so I really
can’t expound on others, but suffice to say that I made it crystal clear to
each bidder that if their intention was to just buy Crystal and leave it as a
two-ship operation, and they were not ready to invest heavily to grow the
brand, then they should not waste either of our time.
The Crystal Esprit super yacht will sail warm-weather itineraries in the Seychelles and Dubai and along the Adriatic coast.
RT: Let’s start with the two aircraft. I think that Crystal
has essentially announced that in addition to a huge new ship order, the launch
of a new yacht product and a ground-up riverboat company, you are going to be
getting into the luxury tour business. But it sounds as though you have
determined that 28-day luxury air itineraries will be the core offering for
this product. It would appear that you feel that 28 days is the sweet spot for
private jet luxury travelers. Will there be shorter/longer itineraries as well?
Also, are these planes on a long-term lease, or are they being purchased
outright?
ER: We own the two airplanes that have been announced. They
are not leased. Our research shows us that for the 60-seater Dreamliner, 28
days is the sweet spot. For the other aircraft, we will be offering 14-day
itineraries. All of this goes back to the three-character acronym that I
coined, ECO. Everything we do for all things Crystal going forward will be
about exclusivity, customization and options, and therefore ECO of course
includes our plans for Crystal Luxury Air.
RT: It sounds like the 787 will have 60 guests on
itineraries that include two-to-three-night stays, about 10 to 12 destinations
in a four-week period. How will the guests be divided into smaller groups? And
to what degree will the sightseeing be customized?
ER: The 28-day itineraries will actually include 12 to 15
destinations. The day-to-day itineraries in each place will have options for
the guests. From a competitive standpoint, that is all I am willing to disclose
at this point.
RT: Launching a dedicated tour product of this scale has to
keep the lights burning late over on Wilshire Boulevard [at Crystal headquarters].
Is the tour product being run in-house, or have you contracted with some of the
tour partners you’ve been cultivating on the cruise side for many years?
ER: All of our brand extensions will be run in-house. We are
not interested in outsourcing.
RT: Are you thinking that the demographics will be younger
than the typical world cruise guest? How might customization and options figure
in to the group touring concept? How many tour escorts will accompany 60
guests?
ER: Age is truly only a number, especially in this day and
age. It is a mindset, so a healthy guest who is 70 may be just as active as the
Silicon Valley billionaire who is 30 sitting on the same plane with him. The
options will be there for each and for all. We won’t be calling them tour escorts.
We will have our Crystal butlers accompanying them on Crystal Luxury Air
experiences so that they can ensure that the guest’s on-land experience is
catered to, just as their Crystal Cruises experience is. I know you are
probably interested in applying, but our current butlers get the first
opportunity. By the way, getting back to age, while I am 27 for the second
time, I feel as though I am still 18, so sign me up!
RT: I don’t think that anyone older than 27 would say,
‘Let’s launch a new yacht division, an airline, a riverboat company and three
1,000-guest new ships, all within the same 24-month span.’ Your life can’t be
boring. I know you will say you love each of these components of the new
Crystal brand equally, but which one gives you the most personal satisfaction
in these initial stages, and which one do you think potentially represents your
greatest creative challenge as a CEO?
ER: Like the mother of five children, I love them all. The
most personal satisfaction comes from the three new triplets as I like to call
them, the three newbuilds for Crystal Cruises. When I started at Crystal two
years ago this month, from the very first day, I said we would have seven
ships. What I didn’t reveal for competitive reasons then was my whole “on the
water” strategy, with the different brand extension experiences.
I am sure that back then, people thought I was a bit crazy,
as there had not been any newbuilds at Crystal for so long. Personally, I am
delighted that I lived up to my promise to our guests and employees, that we
are now in fact getting new ships in all shapes and sizes, but most importantly
newbuilds for our core brand, Crystal Cruises.
The thing that presents the greatest creative challenge as
CEO is that our mission is to become the world’s premier luxury and lifestyle
brand portfolio. As CEO, it is my goal to ensure that this is achieved in the
most profitable manner; wins all of the prestigious awards for each of our
individual brand experiences in each of their respective categories, just as
Crystal Cruises is the most awarded cruise brand; that our guests expectations
have been exceeded; and that our employees are ecstatic to be part of our
Crystal family.
Crystal Luxury Air will fly around-the-world trips on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner configured for 60 guests.
I welcome this creative challenge, and I am confident, along
with my wonderful team, that all of this will in fact be achieved. And by the
way, we are having a lot of fun in the process.
RT: Part of the fun has to be the presence of the “rich
upstairs neighbors on the top floor” of the three new ships. That is a striking
innovation, along with many others like the crew/guest ratio, the amazing space
ratios, all-suite, all-balcony and serious Expedition sailing capabilities. But
the 48 apartments on each ship fascinate me. I’ve sailed on the leading “all
private residence” cruise ship as a guest and written about it. I was struck by
the higher levels of service and recognition the crew reserved for owners
versus visitors. It would seem only natural. How do you get around that issue
of making cruise guests feel like they may be visiting a ship where not all
passengers are created equal?
ER: That’s easy to answer: They were not Crystal crew. Our
crew loves and treats all guests equally. We already have guests who live
onboard. Crystal is just that special!
RT: Will the owners have anything like a condo board to look
after their own interests? I’m sure you don’t want to mess with that, but at an
investment of several million dollars each, won’t they be expecting some level
of management control?
ER: They will buy in understanding all of the rules of
engagement. Management control will remain with Crystal.
RT: A few years back, I set out to try to find the secret of
Crystal’s amazing, long-term success story in a series I wrote for Travel
Weekly. It always seems to come down to the crew. And I felt, after poking
around a bit, that no small part of that success story was previous owner NYK’s
training facility in the Manila area. Will you still have access to that
facility?
I wonder how Crystal is going to be training the 3,000 or so
new crew members you will need for this expansion. Your past guests seem quite
interested in whether or not you will be able to maintain the Indonesian and
Filipino crew percentages you have had in the past?
ER: Our crew-training plans are set, and when we are ready
to disclose those publicly we will. We are confident we will achieve what we
need.
RT: Of course, everyone is interested in the plans for the
Symphony and Serenity. It would be hard to imagine younger sisters having
anything like the legacy value of these two vessels. Will they be sold when the
delivery of your new tonnage is completed?
ER: We amortize for 35 years. We will continue to invest in
each of these two beautiful sisters, keeping them safe and up to date. Having
them allows us also to offer even more itineraries. That is our plan at this
point.
RT: One final question: I’ve read that you require no more
than four hours of sleep a night. Is that really true?
ER: It is very true. It is just my DNA. On those four hours
I have more energy than most who had eight to 11 hours of sleep.
RT: I hope you’ll come back to Cruisebucks to update us on
your progress. I’ll pick up the tab.
ER: My pleasure. And I will look forward to coming back.