Traveling with Lisa Lutoff-Perlo

[phoenix_dream]

We have been notified that Lisa Lutoff- Perlo will be joining our Mardi Gras cruise this March.  Has anyone had the experience of sailing a cruise with the CEO onboard?  Is this a good thing (service will be even better than normal, ship will be even more spotless than normal etc..), or is this a bad thing (venues closed for activities with suite guests, Zenith members, etc..)?    Or neither?  I'm curious what this really means to the passengers onboard.

[vtcruising]

I sailed with her for 3 short cruises on the Edge. I met her in the hall and got a selfie with her and she was very friendly. I was with a crew member and he said she is really nice to the crew.

 

She had a fairly interesting Q +A with Richard Fain, where the audience could ask questions. I saw her around the ship. Sometimes she and her peeps were having informal meetings in venues (I only saw smaller groups of 6-8, so not disruptive). Some people reported that she sat down and chatted with them on the pool deck, trying to get feedback on the ship (one didn't know who she was until later and I guess he had been quite honest). I imagine there could have been some private functions that closed venues, but I didn't notice it.

 

Hope there will be some sort of special event, but if not, you've got Mardi Gras!

 

 

[K12Guy]

Well. She's just a person, like the rest of us. If she actually is aboard it likely will be made known fairly soon. Or she just may want to travel from an inside cabin and have no one aboard know who she is, just so she can experience the reality of being a level entry passenger. In any case I'm sure she will share experiences with her staff.

[C-Dragons]

We sailed on the Dec. 9th Edge Inaugural Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale and were also notified that LLP would be on our sailing. She actually flew into Cozumel to join the cruise. We met her unexpectedly at the elevators on deck 11 as we were on our way to the Retreat and she was heading to her suite to change for the Mexican celebration that was going to be held on the pool deck later that evening. She made a brief speech before the event began. No venues were closed for her visit. I heard that she did visit the Retreat and spoke with guests while she was there. She was only onboard for a short time as she left when we arrived in Grand Cayman. Her presence really had no significant impact on any venues while she was aboard. Ymmv. 😊

[phoenix_dream]

Thanks for the info.  Will be interesting to see how it goes

[jelayne]

We were on a ship the cruise before she boarded, officers were going over the  ship for hours with a fine tooth comb.  No rust anywhere it was all painted over, halls were spot painted, cabins her and her entourage were staying in were inspected and any minor flaw was fixed.  It was quite comical to watch- what she sees isn’t what you or I see.

[bEwAbG]

She really should try to go incognito a few times because it's only human nature to try to please the big boss.  Here in DC, the previous general manager of our Metro system would travel with a small herd of sycophants everywhere he went.  There was always an advance team that would show up wherever they were going to be to tidy things up before he ever saw them.  They would also make sure to clear the path so that regular commuters were not within speaking distance.   Quite comical until you realized that he was being given the impression that things were better than they were.  She doesn't seem to be as isolated (although during the website debacle, some reported that she said at a Q&A that she was not aware of the problems), but, if the ship has advance notice, you can bet that they're being extra attentive to her.

Edited January 5, 2019 by bEwAbG

[TeeRick]

Get her to buy you a drink!

[johhnnyt]

They've changed it around some compared to years past. This year and last she is doing 3 or 4 President Cruises just for a shorter duration, instead of staying on one ship for 7 days. 

For example during our December 16-23rd cruise, she came on day 3 of cruise, and left day 5 of the cruise. 

I remember getting a glace at her schedule for last years EQ Presidents cruise, and  it looked like every 1/2 hour was accounted for with meet/greets, Q&A, and walkabouts.

        She also spends a lot of time with the crew, and senior team onboard, so its not just shaking hand with passengers during the week. One of the crew team members who saw here schedule during the Edge visit said from the time she came on till she left, every half hour block was penciled in with something. I think I only saw her when she gave a brief speech poolside the day she left on Edge.

        Last year on EQ though, talked to her at CC celebration in Sky Lounge one day, during breakfast another, and did an Americas Cup sailing excursion with about 30 others with her on another date.  I also met her years ago when she was Onboard Marketing Manager in the Miami office ~15-20 years ago why she was on a visit on one of the ships.

       It's nice to see someone that started with Celebrity who started as sales manager for the Northeast US, rise in the ranks to become the CEO a few decades later

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by johhnnyt

[hcat]

We booked a cruise  yesterday for 2020..non EDGE

The rep told me LLP  is on board EDGE  now..

Can anyone confirm?

Edited January 5, 2019 by hcat

[chemmo]

16 hours ago, jelayne said:

We were on a ship the cruise before she boarded, officers were going over the  ship for hours with a fine tooth comb.  No rust anywhere it was all painted over, halls were spot painted, cabins her and her entourage were staying in were inspected and any minor flaw was fixed.  It was quite comical to watch- what she sees isn’t what you or I see.

 

Our experience also...We were on Eclipse just before her over a year ago...There is an an ongoing joke in the U.K. that the Queen thinks the world smells of new paint because everyone is just that few steps ahead of her...

[Esprit]

17 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

 Her presence really had no significant impact on any venues while she was aboard. Ymmv. 😊

Ditto on our December 16th cruise.

We didn't bother attending the event in Puerto Rico she was present at.

Mickey Arison the former CEO of Carnival Corporation was more charismatic and a pleasure to meet at an AGM in Southampton.

[Mr&MrsBee]

17 hours ago, jelayne said:

We were on a ship the cruise before she boarded, officers were going over the  ship for hours with a fine tooth comb.  No rust anywhere it was all painted over, halls were spot painted, cabins her and her entourage were staying in were inspected and any minor flaw was fixed.  It was quite comical to watch- what she sees isn’t what you or I see.

 

This is normal as upper management does want to see the true picture .  In my working years days were spent in preparation  for the CEO's 2 hour visit. 

[ghstudio]

On one of her cruises, folks in aqua pointed out the ridiculousness of not providing bottle water each day.  She re-instated the daily 2 bottles of water for aqua passengers FOR THAT CRUISE ONLY!!!!!!

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

23 hours ago, K12Guy said:

Well. She's just a person, like the rest of us. If she actually is aboard it likely will be made known fairly soon. Or she just may want to travel from an inside cabin and have no one aboard know who she is, just so she can experience the reality of being a level entry passenger. In any case I'm sure she will share experiences with her staff.

 

With all the hoo-hah about the Edge IV design, it would really be better if she would sail in one of those, with her husband [or someone with a different diurnal rhythm], so she could experience how the IV can't be used when your mate is sleeping!  Then maybe they could install shades [if only "just for that cruise" ]