Dan Appleby

Experience

• 

  Princess Cruises

  Jan 2009 - now

  Princess is the world’s leading premium cruise line operating a fleet of 16 modern ships visiting over 380 destinations around the globe on more than 160 itineraries.I was promoted to this multifaceted senior leadership role directing the architecture, execution, and transformation of enterprise entertainment strategy and operations. In this role, I am responsible for driving both P&L performance and guest satisfaction via leadership in programming, activities, scheduling, and talent management for over 730 shipboard staff; the planning and execution of programming for 225 guest entertainers; and itinerary-focused enrichment programming and speakers. My organization is comprised of eight shoreside staff, a matrixed team of 32 cruise and entertainment directors, and contract entertainers and ambassadors, Key achievements:►Architecting global entertainment playbooks that elevated guest ROI via improved production values and centralized “mindful” brand experiences.►Enhancing guest entertainer operations and NPS via improvements to product quality, consistency, and agility.►Positioning Princess as the cruise line employer of choice for leading comedy talent via adjustments to the end-to-end experience.►Revitalizing the enrichment menu, identifying and deploying new and influential destination experts, speakers, naturalists, and ambassadors supported by dedicated programming.►Boosting Alaska itinerary guest scores via improved crew preparation and education.►Leading collaboration in the design and production of unique, compelling onboard experiences, including Silent Disco club experiences, ‘80s Deck Parties, game shows, and guest interactions.►Directing the entertainment and related infrastructure components for the highly successful Sphere-class Sun Princess launch.►Streamlining onboard group events scheduling and management via the deployment of a GO by Spark SaaS collaboration tool.►Developing and promoting several team members to elevated roles. Show less In 2019, I was hand-selected as a change agent designing and executing our next-stage onboard activities and entertainment operations. I managed a multi-tiered organization of 230 entertainment directors, cruise directors, activities coordinators, and matrixed corporate office and shipboard staff on 15 ships in strategic planning; talent acquisition, talent management, and scheduling; show and itinerary schedules; guest experience; lean process improvements; and leadership development. Key achievements:►Deepening the entertainment organization's commitment to talent management, ensuring leadership continuity and staff engagement by identifying, developing, and promoting multiple high performers into the entertainment director path.►Strengthening guest experiences via the deployment of a new traveling entertainment fleet manager role, driving excellence through matrixed leadership on onboard internal process audits and staff training.►Identifying, sourcing, and integrating new entertainment experiences across the fleet.►Championing working groups for the March 2020 response to the onset of COVID onset, building plans for cruise director-passenger messaging, at-sea replenishment, in-cabin digital entertainment, and crew repatriation and asset shutdown logistics.►Orchestrating the post-COVID-19 return to service within all KPIs. We reimagined the guest experience incorporating safe cruising protocols for social distancing, smaller guest counts, and exclusive entertainment offerings while certifying the crew.►Being appointed to manage key components of the sale and handover of three decommissioned ships to P&O Cruises Australia.►Recruiting, developing, and promoting several team members into higher-level roles both within entertainment and across the broader Princess corporate and shipboard organizations. Show less Initially joining as an Assistant Cruise I was promoted through successive leadership roles serving as the “face and voice of the ship” and master of ceremonies. This involved managing guest experiences, activities, and the entertainment staff in the planning and execution of lounge shows, revenue presentations, parties, meet and greet events, and other events. As a member of the shipboard leadership team, I developed strategy and communications plans, monitored activities, built schedules, orchestrated safety programs, and coached and developed staff. Key achievements:►Consistently meeting or achieving targets for onboard revenue performance and guest satisfaction.►Developing the culture and obtaining staff commitment to outstanding guest operations and experiences as central to the Princess mission.►Successfully deploying the new dedicated entertainment director role (as a separate function from the cruise director) as a shipboard liaison, involving a major human capital reorganization that improved ownership of the guest experience.►Managing strategic shipboard initiatives, including new show and experience launches, streamlined administrative functions, and capital, operational, and workforce development initiatives.►Achieving outstanding staff engagement scores by fostering inclusive, customer-centric work cultures. Show less

  • Senior Manager – Entertainment Operations • Strategy • P&L Leadership

    Jan 2022 - now

  • Manager – Cruise Staff and Programming

    Jan 2019 - Jan 2023

  • Entertainment Director / Cruise Director

    Jan 2009 - Jan 2019