Cruise passengers don't think much about corporate executives.
When you drink a drink you've never seen on a Royal Caribbean ship, you don't think about the work Ed Eiswirth, the cruise line's senior director of beverage operations, and his team put into creating it.
There's no thinking about how the sausage is made, so to speak, but the work is still important. Eiswirth spoke about the effort that went into the new drinks at Icon of The Seas during a media preview of the menu.
Related: 3 Things Royal Caribbean Guests Should Do Before Their Cruise
During that event, he said he worked with a team of three mixologists to create more than 100 new alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for the cruise, the first of its kind. She put more than a year of work into the bar's menus, including several new bars, including the Lemon Post, a family-friendly spot, and Rye & Bean, a new take on a coffee shop.
Entertainment on ships, like drink menus, requires an enormous amount of work. Shows must be written, broadcast and rehearsed before passengers can see them. That process can take years, and the entertainment team works well in advance to plan deals on new ships.
The man in charge of it for the last decade, Nick Weir, has been an avid poster on the social media platform Those posts included a May 11 look at the Vistarama system, which makes a video presentation look like it's happening live.
That appeared to be Weir's last act as senior vice president and “creator in chief” of the cruise line.
Image source: Caribe Real
Royal Caribbean has a new entertainment chief
Effective immediately, Christine Coachman is vice president of entertainment for Royal Caribbean International, succeeding Nick Weir, who left the company after 10 years, Matt Hochberg of Royal Caribe Blog reported for the first time.
It's unclear whether Weir left alone or was shown the door, but Hochberg used the word “leaves” to describe the move. Weir remains on the cruise company's website, where his job is described as follows:
“Nick oversees the cruise line's onboard entertainment and guest activity programming, as well as Royal Caribbean Productions, the industry's only in-house department that creates, produces and manages the largest entertainment operation at sea.”
Hochberg also called the change a “reorganization.”
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Royal Caribbean promotes experienced leader
While the circumstances of the change remain unclear, Royal Caribbean confirmed Coachman's promotion in an internal document, which Hochberg obtained. The message came from Royal Caribbean's senior vice president of hotel operations, Sean Treacy.
“Drawing on nearly 35 years of experience at Royal Caribbean, Christi will now lead the team responsible for bringing the best entertainment at sea to life,” he wrote.
“She will oversee the cruise line's onboard entertainment and guest activities programming, as well as Royal Caribbean Productions, the industry's only in-house department that creates, produces and manages the largest entertainment operation at sea.”
Weir had held the top job in the entertainment department since 2013.
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“We wish Nick the best and are grateful for his contributions,” a company spokesperson said. Seatrade Cruise News.
Weir has not made public comments and his x page still reflects his previous position.
