For the past few months, travel advisors have eagerly awaited the day when Dondra Ritzenthaler, formerly a sales SVP at Celebrity Cruises, would take the helm as CEO of Azamara. Well, earlier this month, that became reality.
Luxury Travel Advisor recently chatted with the new Azamara executive to get her "take" about her first few days on the job, her brand vision, management style, travel advisors and what she sees ahead for the upscale line.
Fostering a Team Culture
During her first day as CEO, Ritzenthaler says that she made the day all about the Azamara team. “I spoke to the entire organization, including [management and crew members] on each of our four ships, the sales team, the call center” and so on, she tells us.
Her philosophy is that "people come first and that’s the culture that I want to create, not only on day one and for the first few weeks, but for the entire time that I am fortunate enough to be the leader at Azamara.”
In the next few weeks, she'll board two of the line’s four ships to talk in person with officers, onboard managers and crew members, something she considers critical to product delivery. “Our guests really love our crew and I want to make sure we continue to give them the tools they need to keep providing outstanding service,” she stresses.
Visibility and Advisors
In her past role with Celebrity, Ritzenthaler took a highly visible, “out in front” approach to the marketplace, particularly with travel advisors. For instance, she dazzled Dream Vacations advisors with a “Top Gun” style sales presentation on stage at that group's 2022 annual conference. She even strolled onto the stage in an aviator's flight suit.
So, we asked the new executive if she'll adopt that style of proactive, high-visibility approach at Azamara. Let’s just say that over the next few weeks, Ritzenthaler will be jetting across the globe. First, she’ll travel across the Atlantic to meet the U.K. sales team, travel partners and press.
Then, she’ll be front and center as a keynote speaker at Cruise Lines International Association's (CLIA) conference in the U.K. She'll also speak to American travel advisors at the ASTA Travel Advisor Conference in Dallas, TX, on May 30.
Ritzenthaler's New "Triple L" Tour
Since 85 percent of Azamara’s business comes from travel advisors, "I’m launching the Azamara ‘Triple L’ tour," says Ritzenthaler. "That stands for listen, learn and link together. I want to take some time to listen and learn from our travel advisors around the country about what we do well and where we can grow.”
Sending "a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to travel advisors," she hopes to learn “what we can do better so that we can be the absolute best partner to them.” From her perspective, "we truly would not be where we are without them."
Given Ritzenthaler’s strong sales background, we wondered how “hands on” she might be on the sales side. “Of course, sales is a ‘comfort zone’ for me, but Michelle Lardizabal, chief sales officer for North America, runs sales so beautifully, and my goal is to make her job as easy as possible,” Ritzenthaler explains.
So she'll support Lardizabal and the sales team in any way they need, plus assist with strategy. But "then, I’m going to get out of the way and let them do what they do best,” the new CEO says.
Explaining that philosophy a bit more, she adds: “Of course, you know that I love being out and about and connecting directly with the amazing people in our industry, and I absolutely want to continue doing that on behalf of Azamara. At the same time, I am very much a people-first leader. I once read that the sign of a truly strong and successful team is one where you can’t tell who the leader is. That’s the kind of culture I want to create at Azamara.”
Product Facets to Retain or Change?
As a cruise industry veteran, what elements of Azamara's product does Ritzenthaler see as "must keep", and in contrast, is there anything she'd like to change?
Azamara's loyal past guests will be happy that the new CEO plans retention of many beloved product elements. One is the upscale line's strong destination focus. “I'm going to ensure that we're delivering on our destination immersion promise,” she stresses. So, look for the line's many "Country Intensive" voyages, for instance, to remain a big part of the Azamara offering.
In addition, “I do already know from listening to guests and crew that they also love AzAmazing Celebrations and AzAmazing Evenings, and we’ll continue to offer those authentic experiences that guests can’t get on their own,” Ritzenthaler says.
Also, “we’ll continue to deliver a relaxed and unrushed experience because we have so many late nights and overnights,” Ritzenthaler notes. In fact, Luxury Travel Advisor learned that the line recently conducted an internal survey – tallying up every single day on every itinerary that the line offers in 2024.
Results revealed that 80 percent of the total days offered by the fleet annually are actually port days and 45 percent are days with late nights and overnights. That 80 percent number represents “seven points more than our closest competitor,” says Ritzenthaler, “which I believe gives us a true advantage in the marketplace.”
So, what will change under her tutelage? It’s a bit too soon to tell but “one area where we may have some opportunities [for changes] is the wine list,” she acknowledges. “We have heard that some of our guests would like to have choices for wine that they can purchase onboard, so I'm going to look into what we can do there.”
Loving the Itineraries
On the itinerary front, in her past life with another line, many times “we would do the same itineraries over and over every week,” she explains. Now, Ritzenthaler is reveling in her line's differentiating itineraries – everything from a World Cruise to South Africa Intensive or Japan Intensive voyages. In fact, Azamara’s ships now sail to destinations in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, Africa and even Antarctica.
Ritzenthaler also tells us that eight new destinations are also planned for Azamara’s upcoming schedules, and that she's “really excited that this year we’re returning to Canada for the first time in almost a decade.”
One product differentiator? Given the size of its ships, Azamara also will continue to take guests to many destinations that the larger ships can’t or don’t visit directly. For instance,. “I love that in Seville, Spain, as we can go down the river, while other ships cannot as they're just too big to do it,” she explains. Most oceangoing ships must dock instead at Cadiz, Spain, where guests then board motorcoaches or private transit for the 90-minute or so ride to Seville.
She tells us that closer-in-access to destinations, a result of operating smaller ships, is also proving to be an Azamara differentiator for itineraries that call at Dublin, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.; and Bangkok, Thailand.
The Fleet: Any Plans for the Future?
Laying out today's fleet picture for Azamara, the upscale line's current fleet consists of four identical, former R-class ships; eight were originally built for the now defunct Renaissance Cruises. They can accommodate up to 702 guests each. All have been significantly revitalized over the years.
Founded in 2007, the line initially sailed with just Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest. A third ship, Azamara Pursuit arrived in 2018. That set off Azamara's expansion to many new destinations, a global process that was further accelerated in 2021 after the cruise line was acquired by Sycamore Partners. That new owner purchased the former Pacific Princess, from Princess Cruises, and the vessel now sails as Azamara Onward.
Azamara's four smaller ships remain highly popular with cruise travelers seeking that size of oceangoing vessel for their global cruise experience. “Our ships are absolutely beautiful, and we have put a lot of work into maintaining them and ensuring that they stay beautiful,” Ritzenthaler stresses.
Competitively, the other four, former R-class sister ships are operated by competitor Oceania Cruises. But that line also has newer ships including the new Allura launching next year.
Does Ritzenthaler see any new ships on the horizon for Azamara? “Of course, I would love to continue to grow our fleet and bring more guests to more places around the world,” she responds. But “right now our focus is on making Azamara wildly successful with the fleet we do have. Once we are in a place where we are ready to talk about growing our fleet, trust me, you’ll be the first to know.”
Expanding Azamara's Wake
It's clear from our chat with Ritzenthaler that expanding the line's "wake" -- aka enlarging its market visibility within the cruise industry and with potential guests -- is a top priority. After all, Azamara is a small-ship line with a maximum of just 2,800 total guests fleetwide on any given day. So, “it’s almost like we’re a bit of a secret,” Ritzenthaler acknowledges.
Simply put, "increasing visibility is absolutely a goal of mine," she emphasizes. She's clear about the mission. "As a small ship cruise line, we have to be loud and proud.”
In one important effort to widen visibility, moving forward, Azamara will do more to put its team front and center at trade conferences. Ritzenthaler believes that “gives us an incredible opportunity to tell our story.”
Currently, Azamara’s largest source market region is North America, followed by the U.K. and Australia/New Zealand. “These markets will continue to be a focus for us, but of course we’d love to grow our presence globally because we visit so many amazing places all over the world,” Ritzenthaler adds. “That gives us so many amazing opportunities to reach new guests.”
To do that, she plans to leverage her team’s passion and talents, tap into her own 20-years of experience within the cruise industry and "soak in” what she’s now learning from speaking to Azamara’s guests, employees, crew members and travel advisors. Then, she believes: “I’ll be able to formulate a strong strategy that will take us into the future.”