Seatrade Cruise Awards 2021 winners announced

The awards were announced Tuesday evening in Miami Beach, the first time they have been presented during Seatrade Cruise Global.

Here are the winners:

Seatrade Cruise Outstanding Achievement of the Year • Commissioner Louis Sola

Seatrade Cruise Personality of the Year • Roland Torsten Land

#WeAreBack – Onboard • MSC Cruises

#WeAreBack – Onshore • Port St Maarten Group

Expedition Cruise Ship of the Year • Ponant – Le Commandant Charcot

Port or Destination of the Year • ABP Southampton

Product of the Year • Wireless Maritime Services – 4G LTE cellular system

Hygiene Product of the Year • Steripower – sanitizer for luggage and pallets

Marine Interior Design of the Year • Marella Cruises – refit of The Glass House on Marella Discovery

Diversity & Inclusion Award • American Caribbean Maritime Foundation

Roland Torsten Land fostered innovative financing solutions

Heading the maritime division of Germany's KfW IPEX Bank, Land worked on innovative financing solutions to help support many cruise lines during the pandemic, providing them breathing space to restart cruise operations, according to presenter Per Bjørnsen, CEO, V. Ships Leisure.

'We had to find and implement unprecedented measures,' Land said. 

'With the help of export credit agencies and our partner banks, we were able to implement a comprehensive and sector-wide debt deferral initiative or a "pause button" for almost all export debt financings for cruise ships,' he continued, 'With this measure, we hope we were able to support the cruise operators to successfully manage through the crisis.'

Louis Sola dedicates his award to the crew

Sola was recognized for working steadfastly to champion the cruise industry and highlight its economic benefits to US port communities, suppliers and workers, according to Seatrade Cruise Group Director Mary Bond. Serving in both the Trump and Biden administrations, Sola undertook numerous fact-finding missions to port communities across the US, conducting research on the pandemic's impact.

Accepting his award, Sola said crew members 'really took it on the chin' during the shutdown and he was proudest of his efforts to get them vaccinated for COVID-19.

He dedicated the award to the crew because 'without them, we wouldn't be here.'

More than 100 nominations

'The Seatrade Cruise Awards programme recognises the best in the cruise industry, setting new standards for innovation, creativity and technology,' Bond said. 'These awards are a testament to our resilient sector and the vision of those who drive it. We congratulate our recipients and express gratitude to our group of judges for their efforts in selecting our prestigious winners.'

More than 100 nominations were received. 

The winners were determined by an independent panel of 14 leading voices from across the international cruise community — from consultants to professors, editors to operations executives — representing entities like V. Ships Leisure, CHART Management Consultants, Cruise Lines International Association Europe (CLIA Europe), Cruise Baltic, Pace University, Cruise Planners, LizGammon.com, MedCruise, Florida International University, Jacoby Advisors, Oracle Hospitality and Cruise Europe.

Sponsored by Oracle Hospitality and eCruises, the awards were presented by Bond alongside Ingo Sørensen, area VP, global cruise sales, Oracle Hospitality, and Keith Powell, VP eCruises, as well as Cruise Baltic’s Claus Bødker and V. Ships Leisure’s Bjørnsen.

The finalists are listed here.

Access this and many more sessions live and on demand by registering for Seatrade Cruise Global today. Extending further than ever before, Seatrade Cruise Global live is also virtual until Sept. 30, followed by Seatrade Cruise Global 2.0 running Oct. 4-31, including brand new content during the Power Networking week. Learn more and register at www.seatradecruiseglobal.com.