After 23 years at the helm of AmaWaterways, co-founder and CEO Rudi Schreiner will give up that title and move to chairman of the board on July 1. Current president Catherine Powell will assume the CEO title.
Co-founder Kristin Karst will remain as brand ambassador and will continue reporting to the board. Powell was hired as president in February, when Karst was named brand ambassador.
Schreiner, 73, said he had been looking at succession for the past several years. "I've had a fantastic time in the river cruise business for 33 years," he said. "It's time to find younger blood."
Before Schreiner, Karst and the late Jimmy Murphy founded AmaWaterways in 2002, Schreiner already had 20 years experience as a tour operator, founding and running two companies that ran student tours in Europe and then joining Love Holidays, which focused on tours to Eastern Europe. That company had a heavy presence in former Yugoslavia, and he was hired to start new products after the civil war broke out there. He launched everything from Norwegian coastal cruises to ice breakers to the North Pole.
But the product that really took off was a river cruise line, which operated under the name UniWorld.
UniWorld had been chartering ships from Viking River Cruises, and Viking lured him away to open an office for them in the U.S. He did so and stayed with the company for two years before launching his own line with Karst and Murphy. It was originally called Amadeus Waterways (a different line than Amadeus River Cruises) but was challenged by the reservation system with the same name, so it was shortened to Ama.
Schreiner said he'll still be involved to some extent as AmaWaterways' chairman. "I'll still be there advising at board meetings, but overall I feel very, very good about stepping aside a little bit. Maybe I'll travel a little less. I have two grandkids and want to spend more time with them."
Correction: AmaWaterways' president is Catherine Powell. Her first name was incorrect in a previous version of this report.