Klaus Lugmaier

[Black Pearl Sailor]

Congratulations Klaus on your promotion to Vice President, for those of us lucky enough to have sailed with you we salute you :), NCL would not be the success it is without Klaus, a professional, fun-loving, dedicated guy.

 

His second celebration occurs on Sunday 12th May when he completes 25 years with NCL, If ever a man deserves a shiny new Rolex it's Klaus. Share your stories of Klaus.

[Love my butler]

Never heard of him.

[youngestof9]

Never heard of him.

 

Seriously? If you know anything about NCL you know of Klaus.

 

Congratulations to him! Well deserved for sure.

[DMLyons]

Seriously? If you know anything about NCL you know of Klaus.

 

Congratulations to him! Well deserved for sure.

 

I'd disagree. Sheehan is the "face" of NCL on the public stage, of late. If you know anyone, you probably know him, as a casual observer.

 

Technically speaking, I know who Klaus is (by job description), but I'd recognize Kevin Sheehan on sight, since I've seen him in so many video interviews and Undercover Bosses. Klaus could walk right past me, and I wouldn't realize it.

 

DML

[Maryfrei]

Congratulations Klaus!

[youngestof9]

I'd disagree. Sheehan is the "face" of NCL on the public stage, of late. If you know anyone, you probably know him, as a casual observer.

 

Technically speaking, I know who Klaus is (by job description), but I'd recognize Kevin Sheehan on sight, since I've seen him in so many video interviews and Undercover Bosses. Klaus could walk right past me, and I wouldn't realize it.

 

DML

 

Oh Kevin Sheehan for sure! But Klaus is definitely "known". If you watched Mighty Ships on the Epic, he was in that. There are a lot of people who know different officers onboard and Klaus is definitely one of the more recognizable and known individuals. I'm happy for him :)

[punkincc]

Never heard of him.

 

I guess no one is going to tell us who he is.

 

I could venture a guess that he is the same Klaus mentioned in philamike's Breakaway Transatlantic blog, the executive hotel director on board for the sailing. Perhaps someone could confirm.

[www3traveler]

Klaus has been Director of Fleet Hotel Operations for Norwegian. Now both he and Denis Prguda are Regional Vice Presidents of Fleet Hotel Operations.

[sjnyc323]

Congrats Klaus you rock man

 

Suzanne

[DMLyons]

Oh Kevin Sheehan for sure! But Klaus is definitely "known". If you watched Mighty Ships on the Epic, he was in that. There are a lot of people who know different officers onboard and Klaus is definitely one of the more recognizable and known individuals. I'm happy for him :)

 

That's one I haven't seen, but I am still happy for him. Sounds like he's well-loved. Like I said, I knew the name from articles, but I've had face time with Sheehan much more. ;)

 

DML

[Fishbait17]

I was lucky to have Klaus as HD on my very first NCL sailing. He is truly a fantastic asset to NCL and deserves all the accolades he has earned! Long before I knew the face of Kevin Sheehan from "Undercover Boss" (I am lucky to have met him as well), I could recognize Klaus, both from my cruise and from the TV show he was so prominent in (was it Mighty Ships - Epic?). Congratulations Klaus!

 

Robin

[sjbdtz]

Congratulations, Klaus!

 

Well-deserved.

 

 

We've had the privilege of sailing with Klaus 4 times, and really feel he personifies the "we are a family" element of the NCL experience.

 

Glad to see him get recognition.

 

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

[Tomct]

Congratulations to Klaus, he certainly has earned all the accolades and success that has gone his way. As a Hotel Director, he set the bar for performance standard excellence very high for his position and those who worked for him, and continued to raise it up.

 

Our first cruise was on the NCL Star in 2002, and another legendary Hotel Director named James Deering was our HD. After the cruise, he contacted me via Cruise Critic to provide him with some feedback on a problem they were trying to correct on the Star, as it was fairly new at that time. Though I never met him on board, I later found that he was known for his great service and high standards. Mr. Deering told me about the Dawn being built and was going to cruise out of NYC, and to let him know when we were booked. When we set foot on our first cruise, Klaus was the Hotel Director, and personally welcomed us on board with good wishes from Mr. Deering. And so our joy of cruising began, and Klaus became our "Knight in Shining Armour", as we have continued sailing with NCL, and have especially enjoyed cruising on the new ships that Klaus has had a huge hand in bringing out.

 

Klaus is well aware of Cruise Critic, and how it helped him solve some problems that otherwise might have lingered on. A favorite story of mine came from our Canadian cruise on the Jewel, when I met a guy at the M&G who felt he had a problem, and I urged him to contact Klaus. Well he did not, but instead went to a library in Quebec City, and complained about it on Cruise Critic. A close Cruise Critic friend of Klaus read the message at home, tipped him off, and before that individual had returned to ship that day, Klaus had left a voice message on his phone, and the problem was addressed. That's just one example of how dedicated the man is to searching out problems, and solving them before they became issues. That's a big reason why NCL continues to support the M&G sessions, where senior staff representatives can mingle with their customers, answer questions, and urge them to let them know of problems while they are on the ship.

 

Thank you Klaus, and all the HD's and senior staffers who are so sincere and dedicated about their jobs, to do all they can to make our cruising experience as enjoyable as possible. Best of luck in your new position.

[mpk218]

If you dont know Him you should..

 

He's the fellow in the middle..

[marilynd]

On the second voyage of the new NCL Jewel, I almost had to cancel my trip due to a hospitalization with an serious infection. I contacted another CC member about how to go about canceling my cruise. Then fortune smiled and I was allowed by my doctor to take the cruise with the understanding that I would take it easy and spend a good bit of the cruise off my feet. The CC member was a friend of Klaus, who was the HD, about my situation. Klaus contacted us onboard, asked how I was, and gave us VIP treatment. He checked back with me several times throughout the cruise to see how I was doing.

 

He eve remembered us on another cruise later on. That is what makes him such a great

leader. Great move NCL, he will be a great VP.

[MermaidMomma]

I'd disagree. Sheehan is the "face" of NCL on the public stage, of late. If you know anyone, you probably know him, as a casual observer.

 

Technically speaking, I know who Klaus is (by job description), but I'd recognize Kevin Sheehan on sight, since I've seen him in so many video interviews and Undercover Bosses. Klaus could walk right past me, and I wouldn't realize it.

 

DML

 

I had the pleasure of sailing and chatting with both Kevin and Klaus. They are both personable, approachable, and proactive. Congrats to Klaus who is quite recognizable! We are looking forward to sailing again next week with you both!

 

Jo Anne

[Dolphins]

Klaus introduced us to NCL when he was Hotel Director on the initial Dawn sailings out of New York. Mainly because of his "gemutlichkeit" we have been returning to NCL every since. No problem was too small for him to address for us. Having sailed with him many times, he will always be the face of NCL for us. Continued good luck Klaus.

[sjnyc323]

Klaus introduced us to NCL when he was Hotel Director on the initial Dawn sailings out of New York. Mainly because of his "gemutlichkeit" we have been returning to NCL every since. No problem was too small for him to address for us. Having sailed with him many times, he will always be the face of NCL for us. Continued good luck Klaus.

 

Yes Klaus is awesome. He lives and breathes Hospitality

 

Suzanne

[markf]

If you ever had the oppty to cruise with him , you would have enjoyed his energy, his smile and his welcoming attitude.

He seemed to be evreywhere, always visible, must have walked 5 miles a day around the ship.

We were lucky to cruise with him 3x, and we were always welcomed and stil would look forward to a cruise with him in attendance.

'I dont know of any other staff memeber as well known as Klaus, on any other cruise line

[Tomct]

If you ever had the oppty to cruise with him , you would have enjoyed his energy, his smile and his welcoming attitude.

He seemed to be everywhere, always visible, must have walked 5 miles a day around the ship.

We were lucky to cruise with him 3x, and we were always welcomed and stil would look forward to a cruise with him in attendance.

'I dont know of any other staff member as well known as Klaus, on any other cruise line

 

Many CC'ers don't get why people are interested in the "2013 Identity Captain, Hotel Director, Concierge, etc." thread and the like, wondering why it is important to know who the staff is, on which ships, and where and when someone in particular is on vacation and when the might return. Well, knowing where Klaus Lugmaier might show up would be reason for a "boatload" of his fans. It's always nice to hear about Klaus, and this thread is a nice tribute to him. Call us crazy, but back when Klaus began rolling out new ships, we tried to schedule an early cruise with that in mind. Fortunately, his style and leadership was not only recognized by NCL management, and rewarded him accordingly, but his assignments have contributed immensely to the outstanding reputation the NCL hotel directors have established as a group, and it seems no matter which ship you cruise on, the HD's are following in his footsteps, and that's a great thing!

[snorklinbarb]

What great news and couldn't go to a more deserving person than Klaus. Bob and I met Klaus on the first Dawn sailing from Miami bringing the ship to NYC. So many of that original team have gone on to represent NCL proudly as well like Sean, Hugo and many other sr. officers.

 

Our cruises have often been based on "Where's Klaus?" Markf is right - on a cruise with Klaus as HD, you just knew you would have a special time and couldn't agree with Stephen more that Klaus welcomes you back as family.

 

Also happy to hear Denis Prguda was promoted. He's another outstanding HD for NCL. Having people in sr. positions who have "done it all" on the ships and been HD's themselves is such an asset. Plus we've all seen how proud and supportive both these gentlemen are to their crew. I've been on other lines and have never seen sr. staff more visible and engaging with both guests and crew. Hospitality with a capital H and then some. I remember Klaus always saying, "No does not exist on my ship.":)

 

Hopefully, this will mean we'll see Klaus and Denis out on a lot of ships - I know Klaus is constantly on the go and handled the Pearl charters this past season (so there are Klaus spottings pretty regularly).

 

Let's hoist a toast to NCL's best!:D

[geekonacruise]

Congratulations to both Klaus and Denis! Best wishes!