Tom Stieghorst
It is funny to listen to Torstein Hagen describe his frustration with some of the high-end toiletries provided by upscale hotels and cruise ships.
The chairman of Viking Cruises said he's struggled to see if he's actually picked up shampoo or body wash due to some small dark bottles printed with small dark labels.
"So you really have to analyze very carefully what is it you're taking to the shower with you," Hagen said.
Then, once he's in the shower, wet bottle in hand, Hagen said he's been defeated by the tiny caps that have to be popped open to get at the product.
"By now you are wet, the bottle is wet and how do you open it? You take the top of the bottle between your teeth... and that's luxury," Hagen told an audience on a recent cruise of the Viking Star.
On Viking's ocean ships, Hagen said he personally saw to it that each type of toiletry comes in a different colored bottle with a decent sized label and a broad top.
"They're small details, but you come into a new place and why the hell should you have to study all the details?" he said.
While not the first cruise CEO to sweat the small stuff, I don't think I've ever seen anyone at Hagen's level who comes off as a more effective advocate for the customer's point of view than he does.
Hagen started his presentation by saying that Viking set out to reinvent ocean cruising when it announced the contracts for the Viking Star in 2013. There were a lot of big picture things that went into that ambition, such as what size to make the ships, what prices to charge, and so on.
But he also takes personally some of the features that he feels don't serve guests well on other ships. Mostly they involve making things, simpler, more intuitive, and less of an annoyance, such as water faucets that have clear hot and cold labeling and television remote controls that are simple to use.
"Even I can figure it out," Hagen quipped.
"For me that's luxury," he added. "Luxury means you've made things comfortable and that you don't waste your time or money on things you don't really need to deal with."
Hagen truly puts himself in the shoes of his guests and thinks clearly about what their practical experience might be. It is one of the things that separates Viking from other lines and in a small way justifies the boast that they've reinvented ocean cruising.