Andy Stuart Talks Cruising’s Return, Agency Landscape at TRAVELSAVERS and NEST Owner’s Meeting

Andy Stuart stepped down from Norwegian Cruise Line at the end of 2019, just after the launch of Norwegian Encore and just before Norwegian, and the rest of the cruise industry, was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I did not know what was coming and in many ways I have been very lucky, but there is no doubt that there are days when you feel a little helpless, you want to jump in and help. And, of course, I have not been able to do that,” he said.

Stuart, who did keep a foot in the industry after joining the board of Global Ports Holding at the end of February, talked about the cruise industry for one of the first times since the COVID-19 began this week when he headlines TRAVELSAVERS and NEST’s 2020 virtual owner’s meeting this week.

Stuart, who was on-hand to deliver a talk about leadership in 2020 and the way forward, struck an optimistic tone for the cruise industry’s future and applauded the industry for how it reacted, and continues to react, to perhaps the largest crisis in the industry’s history.

“The cruise lines all focused on the basics at the beginning of it,” Stuart said about the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. “They did a fantastic job, every major cruise line, did a powerful job early on this because they didn’t know the runway.”

No one in the industry if asked in March would have expected the shutdown to have lasted as long as it has so far and the moves they made were critical to the industry’s survival today. Moving beyond that shutdown period, all lines have then made the investments they needed to, particularly in new protocols.

“The very best experts in their fields in the world were taken on by the cruise industry,” he added.

Looking ahead, Stuart is bullish on cruising’s return, saying that when “you combine what the industry has done…with the expertise of the CDC…and I think you can be pretty sure there is going to be a tremendously safe experience onboard cruise ships when the restart happens,” he said.

The European restart, which has been largely uneventful in terms of COVID-19 headlines, should also provide some optimism for the industry as, even with some small ships experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, large ships in Europe have been able to operate safely with the protocols in place.

“I think we should be optimistic there. [That] hopefully gives us some comfort,” he added.

Cruise lines have also picked up some marketing engagement on Black Friday—“the sales look a little like they’ve looked in the past”—which “bodes well.”

There’s going to be some changes, too, and Celebrity’s move to an all-inclusive fare is just one example of how high the industry thinks of the distribution channel. More things will change, too, as cruise lines themselves prepare for a new landscape in 2021. 

Advisor changes
Speaking of the distribution, Stuart addressed the owners at their virtual meeting. He said that he has taken his time off to learn Spanish—“I’ve been married to a Colombian for a long time,” he said—and do other things that he hadn’t been able to do while serving as NCL’s CEO, including spending time in the Florida Keys with his family. The Spanish learning has been difficult, he said, but it provides some inspiration for advisors who want to improve their skillset before business fully picks back up.

“The opportunity to develop systems, enhance technology, website development, all those things are opportunities right now,” he said. “You won’t have this much time ever again.”

It’s also the time to keep the client relationships going by engaging with them even if they aren’t yet ready to book.

“This is a relationship business, it will always be a relationship business, I don’t care what you say,” he said. “This is a time where I think it’s important to stay in touch with people…I think people want to engage now more than ever.”

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember a couple of things. The first is that, while the travel industry has been perhaps more harshly hit than any other, that advisors and their peers within the industry aren’t alone.

“You are not alone. This is an entire world facing 2020 downturns,” Stuart said. “It means there’s a lot of people in the same boat and there’s nothing like consulting with someone who is dealing with the same things you are dealing with.”

The second is that this is the most active change period that the industry, and the world for that matter, has seen in a long time and it’s important to figure out how to deal with that change, whether it’s personally or professionally.

“We’re probably in the most active period change in many, many years,” he said. “Change is hard, we’re not designed for it…we have to figure out how to adjust.”

Part of that is looking ahead to post-pandemic, pairing your skills now with what you think will work and preparing new skills to deal with the uncertainty. Be ahead of the curve was Stuart’s message, and be proactive rather than reactive.

Also determine how your clients will snap back when COVID-19 finally winds down, because things can change quickly. “Where are customers in the future? How do you find them? Are they in the same place?” he said.

And, finally, if you are part of a team, or an agency owner, it’s important to keep that responsibility in mind. That’s key when being a leader. “If you’re struggling to deal with it, think about your teams, they are also struggling,” he said.