A. Kirk Lanterman, who built Holland America Line into a powerful brand and served on the boards of Carnival Corp. & plc for many years, died Friday surrounded by family in his Seattle home. He was 87.
I was honored to meet Kirk Lanterman in 2003 during the inaugural cruise of the MS Oosterdam.
Mr. Lanterman took time to talk to many members of the travel media and travel advisors about the changes to Holland America Line (HAL) at the time.
HAL just adopted the policy of automatic gratuities and had moved to building larger ships.
Seatrade-cruise.com reports, “Lanterman came to the cruise industry via Westours, where he began as VP of finance in 1970. He was president when Holland America acquired the Westours operating company in 1979. In 1983, he assumed the presidency of the newly combined operations and consolidated the headquarters in Seattle, closing the former Holland America offices in New York.
In 1989, Lanterman became CEO of Holland America Line-Westours shortly after the company was acquired by Carnival Corp. In 1997, he was named chairman and CEO. He retired from the company in 2004.
Lanterman also served as a director of Carnival Corp. & plc from 1992 to 2007.”
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