Holland America promotes Karen Farndell to associate vice president, UK & Ireland

Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025 0

Holland America Line has announced the promotion of Karen Farndell to associate vice president, sales & marketing, UK & Ireland, effective immediately.

Karen, who joined Holland America Line as director of sales and marketing for the UK in 2022, will continue to be the most senior representative based at the line’s UK head office in Southampton. She will lead the UK team and remain responsible for driving growth across all areas of sales and marketing, reporting to Nico Bleichrodt, vice president of international sales and marketing.

Karen brings more than two decades of experience at Carnival UK, having held a variety of progressive roles with P&O Cruises, Cunard and Princess Cruises, within sales, marketing, commercial and PR.

Since joining Holland America Line, Karen has spearheaded several high-profile projects, including:

* Securing the line’s first ex-UK season in a decade, with homeport sailings from Dover confirmed for this year and across both 2026 and 2027

* Increasing UK and Ireland passenger demand to Alaska, earning industry awards and accolades to mark this success

* Launching ‘Supercruising: Life at Sea’, an eight-episode docuseries currently airing weekly on Channel 4

Karen Farndell said: “It’s an exciting time for Holland America Line and we’ve made fantastic progress in the UK and Ireland over the past few years, particularly in raising awareness of our unique destination offering, supporting our travel agent partners via a bespoke training and engagement strategy and reintroducing UK homeport cruising. I’m incredibly proud of the team and everything we’ve achieved together so far, and I’m looking forward to further building on this momentum in my new position.”

Nico Bleichrodt said: “Karen has been instrumental in growing Holland America Line’s presence in the UK and Ireland. Her leadership, commercial insight and passion for the brand have delivered hugely impressive results. This promotion is a natural next step, and I look forward to continuing to deliver our ambitious targets alongside one another.”