Edie Rodriguez
Luxury Cruise Ships & The French Connection
Edie Rodriguez, the Americas Brand Chairman for PONANT Yacht Cruises and Expeditions, has spent a life and built a career centered on travel, cruise and branding in a most luxurious manner. She was a natural to discuss the booming luxury expedition sector, the next big frontier in the global cruise industry. It is natural, in the U.S., to pronounce PONANT as “po nant,” but the French have a different style and the company name is pronounced “po non,” dropping the ‘t.’ But Edie Rodriquez, charged with spreading the PONANT name in North America, does not get hung up on diction in this case.
Rodriguez Takes Americas Chairman Role at PONANT
Luxury cruise industry veteran Edie Rodriguez will serve as Americas Brand Chairman and Corporate Special Advisor at French-owned cruise line PONANT. With more than 30 years of experience in the cruise industry, the former Crystal CEO and President will be responsible for increasing PONANT's brand awareness and sales in the Americas, and will act as a Corporate Advisor for the company. Navin Sawhney, CEO of PONANT Americas, said, "For the last several years now, PONANT has been building a solid strategy for the American market and has the means to achieve its objectives.
Crystal Cruises Plans for Expansion
Crystal Cruises announced an expansion plan under new owners Genting Hong Kong that includes three 1,000-passenger vessels, its first new ships in decades. Plus, Crystal will expand into adventure, yacht and river cruising, and luxury jet trips. The three Crystal Exclusive Class ships will be about the same size as the 20-year-old Crystal Symphony and the slightly larger 2003-built Crystal Serenity. The line has signed a letter of intent with Lloyd Werft to build the ocean ships, which will have an unprecedented space ratio of 100 gross tons of space per guest, Crystal said. The minimum size of the cabins on the ships will be 400 square feet.
