Amid rumors of the cruise ship Costa neoClassica possibly going to Florida next year to join the ranks of the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, it was inevitable that somebody reach out to Kevin Sheehan Jr. for either some confirmation or denial. In the end, Kevin Sheehan Jr., president of BPCL, could not confirm this addition of a second ship to the cruise line, but he was happy to discuss some other topics.
The Sheehan Majority Stake
Acquiring a majority stake of the Bahamas cruise line was a whole family outing, not just a solo endeavor by either Kevin sheehan Jr. or Sr. Junior’s mother, Lauraine, and sister, Caitlin, are also involved in the business, while he is president and his father is chairman. The Sheehans were smart to recruit some other cruise industry experts and Junior says that Maria Miller as chief marketing officer, Richard Coombs as the director if information technology, and David Sprechman as CFO, have all been a significant factor in the recent growth of the business. That being said, President Kevin Sheehan Jr. does still very much wish to see the business continue to grow.
A Second Ship
Considering the Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line operates with one single ship at the moment, adding a second one is quite literally doubling all business and operations. Sheehan Jr. says that there is a lot of demand and adding a second ship would certainly help meet that high volume of demand, but he wants to be careful about how the business grows, since it would take a huge increasing in marketing across the board.
A Niche Cruise Market
President Kevin Sheehan Jr. also spoke about how BPCL is very happy where it is right now, meeting the needs of a niche market in the cruise industry. That is, because their cruise line offers much shorter voyages from florida for just a few nights at a time, they accommodate clients that do not have the time or resources to go away on a 7-14 day cruise. That’s why they never plan to attempt going head to head with industry giants like Norwegian or Carnival, and instead they put a lot of focus on the Bahamas as a destination.
