UNDER new CEO Catherine Powell, AmaWaterways is taking an even more guest-centric approach to positioning the brand and delineating its point-of-difference in the market, ANZ MD Steve Richards has revealed. Speaking with Cruise Weekly at Virtuoso’s regional forum in Auckland, Richards (pictured) said Powell’s appointment in Jul last year (CW...
UNDER new CEO Catherine Powell, AmaWaterways is taking an even more guest-centric approach to positioning the brand and delineating its point-of-difference in the market, ANZ MD Steve Richards has revealed.
Speaking with Cruise Weekly at Virtuoso’s regional forum in Auckland, Richards (pictured) said Powell’s appointment in Jul last year (CW 30 May 2025) has already seen a meaningful shift in the way the cruise line is further elevating the brand in the eyes of its passengers.
“Our CEO has come from Disney and Airbnb, and anyone who has had an experience at Disney will know they are world leaders, so [Powell] has made us more operational and focused on hardware,” Richards said.
“Nobody walks away from a Disney experience disappointed, and Airbnb has also evolved in terms of how hosts offer their experiences – [Powell] was very much part of that journey, so we’re very lucky to have her.”
The fingerprints of Powell’s involvement at Ama can already be seen in its sizable recent investment to upgrade its entire fleet of ships across key areas such as wine and dining.
However, the luxury cruise line is not only focused on improving the value proposition of its current hardware, with the company on track to grow its fleet to 40 ships by 2030, fuelled by new private equity funding backed by LVMH.
The new vessels will help consolidate strong gains made in the competitive European river market, Richards said, providing a raft of additional unique selling points, such as its plan to add more ships that are double the standard width on the Danube.
Since Amawaterways set up its Australian office two years ago (CW 14 Mar 2024), Richards said the team has doubled its head count, and recently brought on three additional people to help the operations keep pace with strong demand.
The bulk of recent recruits have been in the group reservations department, following a surge in interest in Australia for charter bookings on its 150-pax ships.
“We joined [the ANZ market]at a good time…and now I’m running out of room in the office,” he said, adding that he is exploring options to relocate to a larger location. AB
