2019 Conference Programme

Since 2014, Antonio Di Nenno has been lead architect of MSC Cruises’ new building department. Prior to this, he used to work in the yacht design industry. In this position, Antonio is involved in the development of all the new prototype ships designed for MSC Cruises, following the process from the concept design to the delivery. Antonio focuses his attention on the design and outfitting of guest cabins and public areas in order to ensure that the ship’s interiors are in line with MSC Cruises’ vision of the cruise experience.

Alexis Gouilly-Frossard has more than 15 years of experience in Outdoor F.F.E. for both the hospitality and the marine industry with one of today’s largest furniture specialists: KETTAL.  Based in Barcelona, Alexis has co-ordinated large marine projects under long-term decision processes with designers, operators and shipbuilders from design conceptualization, technical development, project FFE specifications, procurement coordination, to manufacturing and certification. KETTAL is involved in some of today's most innovative projects in the cruise industry, and has even created lines of specifically catered materials such as IMO fabrics and ropes.

Daniela Herget has worked in the cruise industry for 26 Years, the past nine years of which as a consultant.

In her early career, Daniela worked in management roles on various ships -

• Oceangoing vessels - as Asst. Hotel Director, ChiefPurser and Financial Controller
• River cruise ships - as Hotel Director and Cruise Director
• Expedition vessels Arctic, Antarctic, Amazon River - as Asst. Hotel Director and Chief Purser

Daniela was Superintendent of Interiors for the building of the largest cruise ship of its time Harmony of the Seas with responsibility for 4747 staterooms, suites, crew cabins and several public areas.

More recently, Daniela has specialised in LEAN INTERIOR OUTFITTING*: one of her biggest achievements has been the development of the LEAN INTERIOR OUTFITTING Process with Royal Caribbean and Porsche Consulting. This has brought a 150% increase in efficiency of revitalisations, allows the companies for example to do a 1700 staterooms refurbishment smoothly in a 3-Week drydock. At the beginning of this year Daniela has completed 1029 staterooms and 50 suites in 3 weeks with the largest scope ever. All cabins were stripped down to steel and built back up. Successfully and on time.

*LEAN is streamlining the Interior outfitting process by eliminating waste rather than increasing performance. This planning is based on LEAN construction principles which adhere to the 5R's  and “just in time” delivery of materials, the right part, in the right quality, at the right time, in the right quantity, at the right place. This results in much better quality, less stress for workers and a fixed finishing date.

Daniela is now working on a project which is much closer to her heart and combining all her passions for Interior Outfitting/Design, Ship Operation and small expedition vessels - as Director of Newbuild Interior Outfitting for Quark Expeditions and working in Germany and Split/Croatia.

A Russian- American, graduate of Moscow Architectural Academy with almost 20 years of experience in the maritime industry.

For  majority of the carrier (13 years) worked at Royal Caribbean international as a Project Manager of Refurbishments, Re-fits and Newbuilding Projects.

After that (5 yrs) played leading role in bringing Major Retail brands to the cruise ships,as a Construction Project Manager for major Retailer in the industry, Starboard Cruise Cervices, LVMH.

Last year joined Genting Hong Kong, in their recently acquired shipyard in Germany (MV Werften) in capacity of Hotel Superintendent, at Site Inspection Team, and working on construction and delivery of the 204,000 GT Global Class for Dream Cruises, the largest ships ever built in Germany. 

With over 25 years’ experience in the cruise and hospitality industry, David has held roles at Executive level, both operationally, as well as in vessel design and delivery for newbuild & revitalisation projects. He has become a respected voice within the marine sector, who actively promotes engagement and collaboration at every opportunity. Following a 14-year sea-going career with P&O Cruises, he took up various land-based roles, serving the Carnival UK brands. A notable project being P&O Cruises current flagship, Britannia where he is proud to have been presented to Her Majesty the Queen, for his part in being responsible for the entire hotel operational design and delivery.

Now at AD Associates for close to 4 years’ David has been instrumental in the growth of the award-winning business and is responsible for CRM, Marine Business Development, as well as supporting their talented studio with marine operational and regulatory compliance.

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Lauren West is third generation “Cruise West” family – a family well-known and respected in the cruise industry and passionate about all areas related to small-ship cruising. After completing her Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Webb Institute in New York, West accepted a full-time position as Project Engineer in the conversion department of Foreship Oy, a leading cruise ship newbuild and conversion consultancy firm headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. In 2018, she joined AmaWaterways in the role of Naval Architect and currently works directly with AmaWaterways co-founder, Rudi Schreiner and the operations teams, overseeing newbuild projects, winter work refurbishments and design innovations affecting the company’s modern fleet of 24 river cruise ships.

Adrian spent the first ten years of his career as a Deck Officer with P&O and Princess Cruises.  He gained command on cross channel ferries and his last sea going appointment was with Island Cruises before settling ashore in positions with Island Cruises and for three years at the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. 

In 2012, Adrian joined TUI as Operations Director for Thomson Cruises.  During the past seven years he has been at the forefront of the transformation and rebrand from Thomson to Marella Cruises and has overseen the introduction of four new ships in four years.

Adrian is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and a Trustee of the CHIRP Charitable Trust.

Andy has over 25 years' experience in design and has worked internationally on many large-scale leisure developments. His continued drive and enthusiasm for innovative relevant design keeps SMC fresh, dynamic, and relevant. Passionate about good design, he is adept at combining years of experience with innovative and new thinking to produce unique and challenging creative solutions for clients. Andy believes that SMC’s success is down to its people and their approach to design, both of which continue to strengthen the company and benefit clients around the world.

30 years’ experience in the Cruise Industry, working with Fabric manufacturers Sekers, Skopos and now Hammer carpets. During this time Charles has been focusing on developing strong relationships with Interior Designers, Marine Contractors, Ship Owners and Ship yards all of whom play a vital role in the successful refurbishment of Cruise Ships. He believes the key to success in which ever field you are in, is to naturally strive to have expertise in your own area, but also to really understand the companies around you who also contribute to the final result. A beautiful refurbished Cruise ship, delivered on time, and in budget. It is this understanding and empathy for the other players around you that ultimately results in smooth business in sometimes choppy seas.

Mike Oliver is Co-Chairman of global marine interior specialists Trimline. One of the most knowledgeable people in interior outfitting, he boasts over 40 years in the industry. During his training on the Trimline shop floor he experienced many cruise and ferry refits. At the age of 21 he became Assistant Production Manager and over the next ten years became Production Manager, Contract Manager and Operations Director. Having amassed a wide range of industry knowledge, he then moved into the role of Sales and Marketing Director, the area of the business he’d always wanted to take responsibility for managing and directing.

Bas Loohuis graduated from the Maritime Academy in Vlissingen, the Netherlands as Bachelor Maritime operations.

Over the years Bas has followed courses like “ supply chain Management “ at Insead and several Damen Management courses.

Working for Damen for the last 22 years, Bas currently has the position of Commercial Director at Damen Shiprepair at Conversion. Which is a full daughter of the Damen Group, with 17 repair yards. Bas's responsibilities are focused on the large and complex projects including the maintenance and upgrade services for the Cruise Industry.

Having studied Leisure and Tourism management in UK and later qualifying as an interior designer has lead her working with hospitality sector. 

Anu started to work with larger hospitality and marine projects after she was hired by Pia Litokorpi, owner and CEO of Kudos Dsign. 

With the position as a senior interior designer and project manager at Kudos Dsign she has worked internationally with variety of brands for marine, hospitality and residential projects. 

'At Kudos our mission is to create tailor-made designs that stand out from the crowd, leaving both, our customers and the end-users surprised not only by the beauty but also practicality and functionality of the design. 

We have the passion and interest in finding the best solutions for the concept and interior design to fulfil the technical challenges, budget limitations and schedule requirements.'

Kudos Dsign is an international interior design agency based in Finland with long experience and its roots deep in the hospitality design for global cruise liners through a well known full turn-key suppliers. Kudos portfolio includes interior design projects such as Burj Al Arab Terrace in Dubai, Hilton at Resorts World Bimini in Bahamas and number of completed and ongoing international marine projects for Crystal Cruises, Dream Cruises and Star Cruises. 

Eleonora is the Design Director of New Ship Building and Refitting of the Multi-Award Winning Luxury Cruise Company Crystal Cruises.

With over 16 years' experience in the cruise industry, Eleonora started her career in Cruise Ship Industry in Fincantieri, as Public Room Engineer for more than 6 years, acquiring her knowledge in ship interiors new building.

After Fincantieri, her career continued, with the same determination and enthusiasm, with Carnival Group as Hotel Superintendent Furniture and Interiors, dedicated to the management of the Costa Fleet design in operation and refurbishment, for almost 8 years, till the end on 2016 

All the experience in ship new building and refitting, her Master Degree in Architecture at the IUAV in Venice,  and her knowledge about technical materials, architecture and interior design brought her to lead the Interior Design of Crystal Cruises, Genting HK Group.

Passionate and dedicated to her job, she follows the building process form the concept phase till the delivery, managing the design process with Crystal architects imagining and conceiving an outstanding design for Crystal cruises' ships and a superior and totally groundbreaking experience for guests.

Eleonora is currently working on the building of the new stunning expedition vessel Crystal Endeavor, participating in the concept development of the new class of Crystal Vessels and on the refitting of Crystal Symphony that will be held April 2020.

Partner & Executive Director of Tillberg Design of Sweden. During Fredrik's 25 years in the business, he has managed some of the world’s most creative and prestigious marine projects, including on private yachts, explorer ships and ocean liners, like Cunard's Queen Mary 2.

Stefanie Jentz is Senior Project Manager – Newbuild at Hapag-Lloyd. Graduating as a product developer and designer

Stefanie has 22 years in the maritime segment, during which time she has been involved in ships projects from the largest mega yachts to luxury cruise and exclusive expedition boutique vessels, which specialize in customizing small vessels “town plans” in interior and exterior.

More recently, Stefanie designs and specifyies Newbuild from white paper for Hapag-Lloyd down to detailed customized solutions in cabins and manages luxury cruise vessels in the international building processes until warranty ( MV Europa 2 and the new expedition class MV HANSEATIC nature, inspiration and spirit).

Andy has over 25 years' experience in design and has worked internationally on many large-scale leisure developments. His continued drive and enthusiasm for innovative relevant design keeps SMC fresh, dynamic, and relevant. Passionate about good design, he is adept at combining years of experience with innovative and new thinking to produce unique and challenging creative solutions for clients. Andy believes that SMC’s success is down to its people and their approach to design, both of which continue to strengthen the company and benefit clients around the world.

Anne Mari Gullikstad is the Chief Executive Office of YSA Design, where she is also Partner and a Senior Interior Architect. YSA Design is based in Oslo, Norway and has specialised in designing cruise ships, small ships and river cruise vessels since 1985. She draws on over 26 years of experience with to head the company's management team, also fulfilling the role of project leader in key YSA Design assignments. 

With an Honours Degree and Diploma in Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts & Crafts, Anne Mari brings a fresh and original approach to her architectural work, in which she has been certified to practice since 1993. As an interior architect and designer, her landmark projects have included some of the best-known cruise ships in the world, including Oriana (P&O Cruises), Disney Magic, Wonder, Dream & Fantasy, Silver Cloud and Wind, and the Seven Cruises ships Mariner and Voyager Radisson. She has also worked on a series of ships for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. 

As project leader (and interior designer), Anne Mari also oversees and manages some of YSA Design's most prestigious work, including assignments for Disney Cruise Line and SeaDream. She is currently leading YSA Design's extensive conversion project for the Costa Cruise ships Costa Venezia and Toscana. 

Duo Yang is a German Chancellor Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michele Acciaro from Kuehne Logistics University (KLU). The German Chancellor Fellowship allows him to spend a year in Germany to work on a topic with the purpose of strengthening collaboration between Germany and China. The topic he has chosen focuses on how to improve marine equipment supply chains between Europe and China, especially for cruise ship components. His ambition in this project is to develop tailored solutions for marine suppliers and help them enlarge their sales and influence in the Chinese market.

Greg Walton, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP is founding partner of Studio DADO, a Miami-based design studio specializing in cruise ship and hospitality interiors, which has established itself as an integral part of the cruise design industry. Greg has designed projects such as Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis class ships and the “Seven Seas Explorer” for Regent Seven Seas Cruises. With a Masters in Architecture from Georgia Tech, and an MS in International Business from Johns Hopkins, Greg has mentored cruise ship design students at Florida International University since 2007 and sits on the 2019 Cruise Ship Interiors Expo advisory board. Greg watches trends: he sees technology as a key driver of industry change and reminds emerging designers to consider the continual advancements in how we interface with and control our built environment. In his free time, Greg is a tireless world traveler who is rarely seen without his Italian greyhound, Enzo.

Marco de Jorio is President and CEO of DE JORIO DESIGN INTERNATIONAL, a leading company in top-end interior and exterior design of Luxury CruiseShips and MegaYachts, distinguished for innovation and creativity. Marco remarkably placed his creative footprint in all new buildings by MSC Cruises. Convinced of propulsive and emotional value of high-quality design for the Cruise market he has profoundly affected those traits that made the DJDI's repertory unique and recognizable. With 30 years of experience he's one of few eminences in the world holding the highest level of knowledge in the naval design dedicated to pleasure, fun and luxury.