Our Leadership

Jason Liberty is President and Chief Executive Officer for Royal Caribbean Group, which consists of three global cruise brands, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises, as well as TUI Cruises andHapag-Lloyd Cruises, of which it is a 50% owner in a joint venture. The company’s 60 ships carry more than 7.5 million guests a year to ports on all seven continents.

Since joining the Company in 2005, Liberty has had many roles, most recently as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.  In his former role, Liberty was responsible for Finance, Strategy, Shared Service Operations, Legal, Technology, Silversea Cruises and the TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Joint Venture.

Before joining Royal Caribbean Group, he was a senior manager with the accounting firm KPMG LLP.

Liberty earned his MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School,
where he now serves on the Board of advisors. In addition, he holds degrees in accounting and finance from the University of Miami School of Business and Indiana University, Bloomington, Kelley School of Business,
respectively. He also serves on the board of directors of WNS Limited, a business process management public
company.

Naftali Holtz is chief financial officer for the Royal Caribbean Group. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s financial planning and analysis, corporate strategy, treasury, corporate tax, investor relations, investments, internal audit, accounting and financial reporting.

In his previous role, Holtz was senior vice president of finance, responsible for financial planning and analysis, risk management and treasury.

Holtz worked with Goldman Sachs as a managing director and head of lodging and leisure investment banking before joining Royal Caribbean Group in 2019. Prior to that, he served as an officer in the Israeli Air Force.

He holds a bachelor of science in computer science and economics from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

One of the few American women leading a multi-billion-dollar company, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is a trailblazer in the global hospitality industry. She is recognized as the driving force behind transforming and re-defining today’s new luxury cruise experience and building demand with unparalleled brand vision and stewardship; award-winning guest service and operational expertise; and an innate ability for building high-performing, culturally-inclusive teams, among others.

Taking the helm as President and CEO at Celebrity Cruises in 2014, Lutoff-Perlo led the company into an era of unprecedented growth, including accelerated financial performance. Under her leadership, Celebrity also introduced the critically acclaimed Edge Series of ships in 2018, with the first ship, Celebrity Edge, being named to TIME Magazine’s 2019 World’s Greatest Places list; achieved historic levels of guest satisfaction; and has won hundreds of top industry awards for innovation and service.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of Fortune 500 company AutoNation (NYSE: AN), America’s largest and most recognized automotive retailer, where she sits on the Audit and Governance Committees. She also actively lends her expertise to numerous international and regional nonprofit organization boards including Best Buddies Global Board of Directors, United Way of Broward County and Nova Southeastern University, Broward Center of Innovation.

Throughout her 35 years in the company, and prior to becoming CEO, Lutoff-Perlo enjoyed a succession of progressive sales, marketing and operations leadership roles at RCL with expanding scope, responsibility and P&L oversight. In 2005, she became Celebrity’s first female Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations. In 2012, she was named Executive Vice President of Operations for Royal Caribbean, the first woman in the industry to oversee both hotel and marine operations. Two short years later, she was the first woman appointed to CEO of a Brand in the RCL Corporation.

Known as a bold and strategic innovator, with a keen ability to identify market opportunities, tap into consumer trends, and motivate entire organizations to effectively execute them with an unwavering commitment to excellence and results, some of her significant accomplishments have included:

• Overseeing more than $5B in capex investment to envision and deliver the most ergonomic and stunning ships at sea and modernizing the existing Celebrity fleet, resulting in record yield improvement for the company.
• Leveraging data analytics as an essential component to better understand consumer motivations; evaluate campaigns; personalize digital content; trigger loyalty; and, ultimately, attract new audiences.
• Rebranding Celebrity as a “new luxury” line and solidifying industry-leading luxury brand partnerships with such organizations as Forbes Travel Guide, Chef Daniel Boulud and American Ballet Theater.
• Increasing marketing spend by 47% to increase brand awareness and conversion of affluent vacationers.
• Achieving record employee engagement with a global workforce of more than 20,000 crew members from over 70 different countries sailing to 300 destinations around the world and developing a new, award-winning service culture that resulted in an historic 8-point increase in net promoter scores in just three years.
• Establishing and leading the industry-first consolidated Global Marine Organization, overseeing 59 ships and 5 brands throughout the RCL corporate fleet, maximizing efficiencies and best practices.
• Catalyzing cultural innovation in the 200-year-old-industry, in 2015, Lutoff-Perlo appointed the first American woman as Captain in the Celebrity fleet and ultimately increased Celebrity’s percentage of women on the bridge from 3% to 27%, in just five years, exceeding the industry average of 2%.

Lutoff-Perlo has received numerous awards for her groundbreaking contributions to the cruise industry, travel industry, the South Florida business community, gender equality, and diversity and inclusion including an Honorary Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University; Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) and Women in Travel; induction into the International Hall of Fame by the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey; Leadership in Diversity Award from the Committee for Economic Development; and the prestigious The Eleanor Roosevelt Center Val-Kill Medal of Honor, acknowledging individuals whose far-reaching influence has made our world a better place.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

R. Alexander Lake

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Alexander Lake joined the Royal Caribbean Group in June, 2021 and serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, in which role he has global responsibility for the Group’s legal and compliance functions.

Mr. Lake joined the Royal Caribbean Group from World Fuel Services Corporation, a Fortune 100 global energy services company, where he spent over 17 years leading the legal, regulatory and compliance areas, serving most recently as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary.

Prior to World Fuel Services, Mr. Lake served as Assistant General Counsel at America Online Latin America, Inc., a leading interactive services provider in Latin America, and practiced as a corporate lawyer in New York and Miami with the law firms White & Case, Winston & Strawn and Curtis Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.

Mr. Lake received his J.D. from Columbia University Law School and a B.A. in Economics from Boston College.

Harri Kulovaara, executive vice president, Maritime & Newbuilding, has led the design and construction of several of the world’s most innovative cruise ships for all of the various brands within Royal Caribbean Group.

Under Kulovaara’s leadership and vision, Royal Caribbean launched the world’s first “smart ship,” Quantum of the Seas, in 2014. He led the design and innovation behind the world’s largest and most revolutionary cruise ship, Oasis of the Seas in 2009 and, sister-ship Allure of the Seas in 2010, both of which introduced unique industry “firsts” that redefined the cruise vacation experience. Kulovaara is also the creative force behind Celebrity Cruises’ five Solstice-class ships, heralded for their stunning and stylish design.

A cruise industry veteran of more than 40 years, Kulovaara previously served as senior vice president, Marine Operations and Fleet Operations, when Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. combined its marine operations and quality assurance functions.  Prior to joining Royal Caribbean in 1995, Kulovaara served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Oy Silja Line AB, a leading cruise ferry operator based in Finland. He also was named executive vice president for Silja Line’s parent company, Effjohn Oy Ab.

In addition to being the chairman of Royal Caribbean’s Maritime Advisory Board, Kulovaara is one of the founding members of the Cruise Ship Safety Forum and the current chairman of its Steering Committee.  He is also a visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

Kulovaara is a naval architect and holds a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Helsinki in Finland. In 2015, Harri received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Strathclyde in recognition of his continuous safety improvement efforts through innovation in the maritime industry.

Dana Ritzcovan is executive vice president and chief people and outreach officer, responsible for the company’s human resources (HR); environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG); and corporate affairs functions.

Most recently, she was executive vice president and chief human resources officer at News Corp. There she oversaw its global human capital and ESG strategies, communications, as well as health, safety and security efforts for all its business units, including Dow Jones and its brands like The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch; Realtor.com; Harper Collins and many others.

Prior to that, Ritzcovan served as group managing director and head of human resources for Global Wealth Management at UBS, managing all HR functions across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. During her time there, one of her key accomplishments was revamping the compensation program for the company’s financial advisors, which resulted in revolutionizing an industry practice.

Previously, Ritzcovan was the chief operating officer for the strategy, digital and client segmentation division of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Before that, she served in several senior HR roles within Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, as well as at Navigators Group and Credit Suisse.

Ritzcovan holds both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland.

Laura Hodges Bethge is executive vice president of Shared Services Operations, responsible for Royal Caribbean Group’s safety, security and environment, risk management and crew movement teams. She adds these areas to the portfolio she was managing in her previous role of senior vice president of Shared Services Operations, which included supply chain, travel services, port services, workplace solutions and real estate.

Prior to that, Hodges Bethge was senior vice president of Product Development for Royal Caribbean International, and led the teams conceptualizing the largest global cruise line’s groundbreaking ships, private island destinations, and new experiences introduced throughout the award-winning fleet, including the first island in Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day Island Collection – Perfect Day at CocoCay. She also spearheaded the modernization of 10 ships in four years as part of the Royal Amplified program – an investment of more than $1 billion; and the design and construction of six new ships, including Spectrum of the Seas and Odyssey of the Seas.

Hodges Bethge joined the company in 2000 to lead the fleet accessibility program for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises, and she has since held several leadership roles within various areas of the business, including hotel and Marine Operations, Sales, Marketing, Product Innovation and Investor Relations. She was also based in Shanghai as vice president of Market Development where she oversaw commercial operations for this strategic market.

A Florida native, Hodges Bethge is active in her community and serves on the board of Easterseals, a nonprofit dedicated to enriching the lives of people and families with disabilities. She also supports efforts aiding the Police Officer Assistance Trust (POAT), a nonprofit organization that assists officers and their families in times of need.

Hodges Bethge holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, as well as an MBA in international business and finance, from Florida International University.

She lives in Miami with her husband.

Barbara Muckermann is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Silversea Cruises, as well as a member of Royal Caribbean Group’s Executive Committee. Barbara joined Silversea in October 2001, returning as Chief Marketing Officer in 2016 following stints in strategic marketing positions with multiple luxury and cruise brands from 2005 – including Loro Piana, NCL, and MSC.

Since 2016, Barbara has been at the forefront of Silversea’s brand evolution, helping to establish the company as the world’s leading ultra-luxury and expedition cruise line.

A Doctor in Political Sciences and Economics, with a joint Executive MBA from the London Business School and Columbia University, Barbara is an accomplished professional in the luxury travel and hospitality industry, with more than 25 years of experience. She has been an innovator and leader in the cruise industry throughout this time, playing a pivotal role in the launch of such pioneering travel concepts as Silversea’s S.A.L.T. culinary programme and the cruise line’s Roman-inspired wellness programme, Otium, among others.

Barbara formerly held the position of Chairwoman of the Reputation Committee of CLIA, managing the association’s reputation during the critical time of the Costa Concordia incident.

A true expert in luxury and in marketing, Barbara has taught Branding and Strategy at numerous universities. The Italian national is the second woman to lead one of Royal Caribbean Group’s three wholly owned brands.

Seasoned travel and hospitality executive Michael Bayley was named President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, the world’s largest cruise brand, in December 2014. Bayley’s career with the brand’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), spans 30 years. In his former role as President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, Bayley delivered strong results while building the company’s “Modern Luxury” positioning, which resonated successfully with Celebrity’s sophisticated customer base

Prior to that Bayley was Executive Vice President of Operations for Royal Caribbean International, where he oversaw the brand’s Hotel Operations; Marine Operations for Royal Caribbean International and Azamara Club Cruises; Land Operations for Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises, and Commercial Development for RCL.

Prior to that, as RCL’s Executive Vice President, International, Bayley was responsible for the strategic international business development of three of the company’s cruise lines: Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. Over the course of just four years, he established 11 regional offices around the world, which now generate more than 50 percent of the corporation’s total revenue.

Earlier, Bayley served as Senior Vice President, Hotel Operations for Royal Caribbean International, leading the worldwide hotel operations and onboard revenue of 21 cruise ships and 30,000 employees. Prior to that, he served as Chairman and Managing Director of Island Cruises plc, a joint venture cruise line and tour operator begun in 2002 by RCL and British tour operator First Choice Holidays.

Bayley began his career with the company in 1981, working in a variety of shipboard and shoreside positions with increasing management responsibility, including that of Vice President of Total Guest Satisfaction, Fleet Operations. He also served as Vice President for Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino, one of the world’s largest premium gaming resorts, in Las Vegas.

A native of the United Kingdom, Bayley graduated with a degree in business administration from the University of Bournemouth in England, and has attended management programs at Harvard Business School and Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He is a member of the board of SteamShip Mutual in London, U.K.

Bayley has two children and lives in Miami, Fla.