Stein Kruse is Chief Executive Officer of Holland America Group, a division of Carnival Corporation & plc. Holland America Group includes Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn, as well as Holland America-Princess Alaska land operations. Kruse also is chairman of the board of MANCO, a U.K.-based entity that oversees the operations of Carnival Australia, including P&O Cruises Australia.
Holland America Group operates 41 cruise ships, with more than 36,000 employees worldwide delivering 25 million passenger cruise days annually.
Princess Cruises is the third-largest cruise line in the world, carrying approximately 1.4 million guests each year to top destinations around the globe on 18 premium vessels. A new 3,560 passenger Royal-class ship is on order for delivery in spring of 2017.
Holland America Line operates a fleet of 15 premium vessels carrying approximately 850,000 guests on more than 500 cruises annually to all seven continents. Two new 2,650-passenger ships are on order with deliveries scheduled for February 2016 and November 2018.
Holland America-Princess Land Operations operates hotels, rail services, motor coach transportation, shore services and tour operations in Alaska and the Yukon for guests from Holland America Line and Princess Cruises on land tours.
Seabourn’s four intimate, all-suite luxury vessels carry between 458 and 600 guests and sail 197 cruises annually to the world’s most desirable destinations. Our first 600 passenger ship, Seabourn Encore, was delivered in 2016 and a second 600-passenger ship, Seabourn Ovation, is scheduled to be delivered Spring 2018.
P&O Cruises Australia has three ships sailing from Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand, to destinations across the Australasia region.
Kruse joined Holland America Line in Seattle, Wash., in 1999 as senior vice president, Fleet Operations, with overall responsibility for operations and new builds. In 2003 he was named president and chief operating officer and became chief executive officer on Dec. 1, 2004. In January 2011 he was appointed chairman of Seabourn when the company’s corporate headquarters transitioned from Miami, Fla., to Seattle. He was appointed CEO of the newly formed Holland America Group on Dec. 1, 2013.
Before joining Holland America Line, Kruse was senior vice president and chief financial officer of North American Operations for global Japanese shipping company "K" Line, where he also oversaw financial activities of seven U.S. subsidiaries and served on the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer for Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, and president and CEO of Seven Seas Cruise Line.
Kruse currently serves on the boards of the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation; World Trade Center Seattle; Saltchuk Resources, Inc.; and the University of Washington Foster School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board.
A native of Oslo, Norway, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. Kruse, his wife and two children reside in Bellevue, Wash.