Husband, like many before him and probably a fair few after him, admits he had preconceived ideas about what life was like on an ultra-luxury cruise vessel – and he freely admits he was in no rush to find out if they were accurate.
“I had never seen myself as a cruiser – I had never really seen myself going into it,” he candidly reveals to TTG.
Having spent the best part of 30 years working for the Edition brand, Kimpton, Fairmont and most recently the Langham Hospitality Group, Husband felt very comfortable professionally.
But looking back at that Tuesday afternoon when he first received Explora Journeys’ message, he says it planted a seed in his mind – even if he was probably not conscious of it at the time.
Soon after the approach was made, Husband asked ChatGPT to tell him about Explora Journeys – MSC Group’s ultra-luxury cruise line – which currently operates two 922-passenger ships.
“I had a pre-conceived idea [about cruise]. I thought it was for a very specific target market, that it was 5,000 people at sea, that you go into a restaurant and it's big tables of 10 so you have to sit down and introduce yourself and be incredibly social.”
After coming round to the idea of working for an ultra-luxury cruise line, Husband started to reflect on his position within the hospitality industry.
“I said I’m not going to be another commercial director or sales marketing director. I was keeping my options open, but I wasn't really proactively looking for new roles as I had done previously,” he says.
'A massive change'
Husband responded to the LinkedIn message and took up the role of UK and Ireland executive director at Explora Journeys on 18 November. Two days later, he was flying to Puerto Rico to join a seven-day sailing onboard Explora I to get to know the brand "a little bit more”.
“Once you’ve slept in the bed, experienced the restaurants and swam in the pools, you get a good feel about what ocean travel is all about," he explains.
"That was really unique for me. I’ve spent the last 30-plus years in hotels. To move out of that sector into ocean travel is a massive change, but it really is just a hotel on water. It’s the jargon that is very different,” he adds.
Interestingly, when comparing the two sectors – hospitality and ultra-luxury cruise – he says that while both lean heavily on spreadsheets, cruise is “analysis paralysis on speed”.
“You can really drill down into why people booked, what they were watching and what they were eating onboard, to make sure that you can be as targeted as you possibly can be in terms of your sales and marketing strategy,” he explains.
The comparisons though do not end there. Husband says: “The importance of the travel agents is absolutely paramount. In cruise, we still have this balance between direct business versus agency business. Hotels, for years and years and years, have always tried to shift that balance to have a little bit more of a 50:50 split.
“Hotels spend huge amounts of money on their own websites to try and get business coming through direct. That agency business is crucial, because of the level of distribution agents have with the databases they're currently working with.
"Some of those really big hotel brands offer best rate guarantees, encourage customers to go through their website, book direct, and say to customer you'll get your free breakfast, you'll get your bottle of champagne. It's trying to get people to book directly with you. Will they ever succeed? I don't know."
New to cruise focus
So which luxury cruise agencies has Husband met in the short time he's been in position? "Part of the brief I gave my commercial team was that I really want to get out and start shaking hands," he says. "I really wanted to start meeting people."
But he stresses he was aware his lack of cruise sector experience meant he would adopt a "listen and learn" brief at least while he got up and running. "You need to listen and learn and understand before you can start adding value. I didn't want to start speaking just for the sake of speaking," he continues.
"I want to say I’m here to support you, what is the future looking like, how did things go in 2025? I’ve got some very, very experienced commercial sellers within my team. I don’t want to come in from that angle just yet because I’ll probably end up sounding a bit like a fool."
When Husband sits down with TTG in January, he had just returned from meeting with luxury cruise retailers in the north west of the country. "I saw Carrier, Panache Cruises and World Travel Holdings," he says. I did not start with them for any particular reason. They are among our key partners but there are others, of course.
"But to be able meet James Cole and Anna Perrott from Panache or Natasha Towey at Carrier, it’s so much better when you shake hands and asked the silly questions face to face because I’m new to cruise."
Husband has joined Explora Journeys at a critical point in its evolution. This summer, it will launch its third vessel – Explora III – before Explora IV arrives next year. Both ships will feature new Owner's Residences designed by Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola.
Explora III will be the first Explora Journeys ship to offer two 280 square metre Owner's Residences, which both have oversized windows "framing the sea as living art", the line says, and an ensuite bedroom, living and dining areas.
Looking back at the conversations that were had with the north-west, Husband reveals he was given "a very warm welcome" despite "operational challenges" being raised from previous ship launches.
"People are fallible, and people do make mistakes," explains Husband. "It's how you fix those mistakes and make sure that they don't happen again. For sure, there were mistakes made, and changes of journeys or even delays of ships being put into the water."
Intriguingly, Husband reveals Explora Journeys is "really focusing" on the yet-to-cruise market. This is an area he hopes to make one of his most telling contributions, particularly early on in his cruise career. "I'm hoping to be able to voice some of the some of the points that I saw stepping onto Explora I in Puerto Rico," he adds.
He says that as a first-time cruiser he felt he needed more guidance from crew at least during those first few hours onboard. It is this kind of insight from Husband that could help propel Explora Journeys to even greater heights.
