Maurice Zarmati, a 36-year veteran of sales at Carnival Cruise Lines, was named president and CEO of Costa Cruise Lines North America, a role he assumes March 31. Costa is owned by Carnival Corp.
Zarmati currently is vice president of sales for Carnival. He joined the line in 1972.
Also, Roberto Martinoli, Carnival's executive vice president of operations, has advised the line of his desire to move back to Monaco and return to the consulting business. Martinoli's last day with Carnival will be March 7. He has been with Carnival since 2000.
No replacement has yet been named for Martinoli. The operations department will continue to be led by Carnival veterans Natko Nincevic, senior vice president of hotel operations, and Brendan Corrigan, senior vice president of marine operations.
At Costa, Zarmati will report to Gianni Onorato, president, and will be responsible for sales and marketing efforts for Costa’s North and Central American regions. He fills a role recently vacated by Lynn Torrent, who left Costa to join Carnival Cruise Lines as senior vice president of sales and customer service.
Zarmati and Martinoli are the third and fourth longtime executive to leave Carnival in the last few months. Carnival CEO Bob Dickinson, a 35-year veteran of the cruise line, retired at the end of 2007, and was replaced by Gerry Cahill, Carnival Corp.’s former CFO. Vicki Freed, who put in nearly 30 years at Carnival, departed the cruise line in January to become senior vice president of sales and customer service at Royal Caribbean.