Princess Cruises Creates Guest Operations Group

The bow of a Princess cruise ship showing the Princess logo
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Princess Cruises is reorganizing its shoreside leadership and introducing a new department aimed at strengthening oversight of the guest experience and onboard revenue generation.

In an internal memo signed by Princess Cruises President Gus Antorcha, the cruise line confirmed the creation of a new umbrella division called “Guest Operations.” The new group will bring together Hotel, Food & Beverage, Onboard Revenue, and Entertainment under a single structure. According to the company, the change is intended to sharpen focus on “guest-facing operations” while improving efficiency through a unified reporting line.

To head the newly formed Guest Operations department, Princess has appointed Rodrigo Llaguno as Chief Operating Officer. Antorcha said Llaguno will report directly to him and become a member of the Senior Leadership Team, highlighting his extensive background in overseeing large-scale hospitality operations.

Under the revised structure, several senior leaders will now report to the COO, including:

  • John Paul Lamb, Vice President, Entertainment (recently promoted)
  • Lorna Warren, Vice President, Hotel Operations & Guest Experience
  • Sami Kohen, Vice President, Food & Beverage
  • Alfredo Jimenez, Vice President, Onboard Revenue

One of the most notable changes is the separation of Entertainment from the Hotel Operations & Guest Experience organization.

Antorcha confirmed that John Paul Lamb has been promoted to Vice President, Entertainment, and will take full responsibility for leading the entertainment division going forward.

The entertainment leadership team outlined in the memo includes:

  • Denise Saviss, Vice President, Entertainment Resource Group
  • Cody Blanco-Hann, Director, Entertainment Operations
  • Katy Harris, Director, Entertainment Experience & Creative Development
  • Robby Mantegna, Director, Production Entertainment Experiences
  • Jackson Walsh, Senior Manager, Studio and Show Operations
  • Jordan Herring, Manager, Family Strategy and Programming

Princess also announced several internal promotions within Food & Beverage:

  • Andreas Dymke promoted to Senior Director, Culinary Experience
    • Direct reports: Vicki Light (Culinary Arts Projects), Greg Smitka (Culinary Quality Assurance)
  • Sarah Hancock promoted to Director, Beverage Operations
    • Direct report: Kim Henigman (Sr Specialist, Beverage and Specialty Dining)

On the hotel operations side, Nick Shrives has been promoted to AVP, Guest Services and Arrival Experience. His direct reports include:

  • Ovidiu Herman, Director, Guest Operations Rooms Division
  • Guest Port Experience managers, including Anja Dryer, Cindy Alfaro, Benjamin Bartlett, Deon Doria, and Dee Schwulst
  • Tomas Gonzalez de Rosenzweig, Manager, Technical Ecosystem
  • Louvia Lubin, Associate, Special Projects

Princess also confirmed that Miles Clark, Director of Arrival Experience, will be departing the company.

Additional changes affect technology and safety functions. Robert Schurr, Senior Director of Ops Platform, along with his team, will move to Global Connectivity Solutions and Operations (GCSO), reporting to Rick Lapenna, Vice President, Cloud Engineering and Operations. The PCL Networking Team, led by Andre Doles, will now report to Schurr.

Meanwhile, Dario Amato, Director of Safety Systems and Operations, will transition to the Maritime Operations team under Jochem Bakker, Senior Director, Safety, ISM, and ERO. Werner Benkenstein, Senior Manager of Hospitality Operations, will report directly to COO Rodrigo Llaguno.

With the promotions of Lamb and Shrives, Princess said it currently has three Director, Hotel Operations roles open, describing them as opportunities for new leaders to step into expanded responsibilities as the organization continues to evolve.

Restructures of this nature typically point to several priorities, including closer alignment between guest experience and revenue-focused teams, more centralized decision-making, and increased oversight of entertainment and onboard product delivery.

For crew members, the key question remains how these changes will affect daily life onboard, whether through improved support and clearer direction, or increased pressure to deliver higher satisfaction scores, stronger onboard sales, and faster operational performance.