Yesterday, NCL announced the appointment of Roberto Martinoli to the role of President and COO. We think he is the perfect person for the job, but we do not envy him the task ahead.

The timing makes a world of sense - he was most recently working as an "advisor" to Apollo Management, NCL's controlling shareholder. The Cruise News trade newsletter described this as a holding pattern until the conclusion this month of Martinoli's non-compete agreement with previous employer Carnival Cruise Lines. At Carnival, Martinoli was EVP of Operations, a promotion from the role of SVP in charge of technical operations. Prior to that, he was an SVP at Costa.

Martinoli's time and success within the Carnival and Costa brands (both owned by Carnival Corp, of course) speaks to an ability to run a lean, high-quality operation. After all, nobody in the business makes the return on capital that Carnival Corp does.

Martinoli steps into a cruise line with a number of significant challenges: even in good times, NCL has struggled to make a profit. Additionally, the line has enormous capital costs, both from the pricey Meyer Werft ships they have bought in the past few years, and the two F3 newbuilds on the way.

That said, NCL has a number of important assets Martinoli will no doubt be sure to leverage. First, there's those new ships: they may be expensive, but they're gorgeous and perfectly suited to the Freestyle concept. (Where else can you have twelve distinct restaurants at sea, plus a bowling alley?) Furthermore, they have a clearly differentiated position in the market, thanks to a product that is, well, genuinely different (what a concept!) and a consistently clear marketing message.

We wish NCL and Mr. Martinoli all the best. We will be following this story with great interest.