Mourning cruise finance expert, CEO, talent-spotter Bruce Burner

Besides his financial savvy, Burner was revered as a boss and mentor, bringing a number of young talents into cruising who advanced to significant roles across the industry.

Among them are Terry Thornton (currently SVP, Princess Cruises), Brian Rice (former Royal Caribbean Group vice chairman/CFO), Michael Pawlus (currently head of itinerary planning, Azamara), Emilio Freeman (currently VP itineraries & destinations, SeaDream Yacht Club) and Jose Martin (former CFO, PPI Group).

Mentor, great boss and teacher

'He was a mentor to all of us, a great first boss to have to teach us the cruise business. He was meticulous about hiring the right people and built great teams,' said Pawlus, who Burner hired in the 1980s at NCL when he was finance director for Kloster Cruise Ltd.

And Freeman said: 'Bruce was my first boss in the cruise industry as a financial analyst [at NCL]. Not only was he a great boss, but he was also a good life coach and true friend. He helped set the foundation of who I am professionally today.'

Freeman recalled how Brian Rice came to NCL as a junior financial analyst and was instrumental in building Monday morning's 'key indicator' report showing estimated revenues for the cruises that went out over the weekend. This equipped Rice to later build Royal Caribbean's pioneering revenue management system. 

Another Burner hire was Thornton, who got his first job out of college in 1977 as a financial analyst at NCL.

'That is where I really learned a tremendous amount about all aspects of the business — finance, marketing, sales and ship operations,' Thornton said. He considers Burner 'one of my most important mentors in so many ways. He allowed me to take initiative and grow throughout my time at NCL. He helped me to be ready to take my career forward based on my learnings under his mentorship.'

Thornton — best man at Burner's wedding in 1980 — left NCL in 1982 to become VP finance at start-up Sea Goddess 'with all the skills I learned from Bruce.'

Modern cruising's formative years

Burner got involved in the Caribbean cruise industry during its formative years.

He joined NCL in 1977 until 1989, going on to became corporate director, planning and budgets at Carnival Corp. Working for Howard Frank, who was building Carnival into a corporation, he coordinated internal and SEC reporting and planning for Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line and the Crystal Palace Resort and Casino in the Bahamas.

CFO roles

Burner then spent a year as SeaEscape CFO, forming a financial plan to rectify the troubled company and taking it through its bankruptcy filing.

He also served as VP finance and CFO at Premier Cruise Lines in the early 1990s.

Founding CEO at Cape Canaveral Cruise Lines

In 1995, Burner launched Cape Canaveral Cruise Line as president/CEO. The one-ship line operated Dolphin IV from Port Canaveral on two- and four-night Bahamas cruises until 2001.

After that, Burner became marketing director for Ron Jon Cape Caribe Resort before establishing a leisure industry consultancy specialized in start-ups and profit improvement. He retired in 2012 and traveled the world.

From chemical engineer to CPA

According to an obituary, Burner was born in Chicago and in 1947 his family moved to Miami, where his parents ran Black Caesar Forge, a restaurant popular with South Florida movers and shakers. He studied chemical engineering, worked for Phillips Petroleum, then earned an MBA at George Washington University in Washington, DC before working as a financial analyst in Buffalo, New York.

Moving back to Miami, he became a certified public accountant and got involved in the cruise industry.

Burner is survived by his wife Barbara, a step-daughter, two daughters, a son and three grandsons.

A visitation is planned for Aug. 5 from 11 a.m. to noon followed immediately by a funeral at Beach Funeral Home in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida.