Left: Starboard President & CEO Lisa Bauer. Right: Crafted by Starboard at Westgate Vacation Villas Resort in Central Florida.

With a growing portfolio of first-at-sea concepts, the launch of its proposition onboard Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas on the horizon, and more distinctive resort boutiques, Starboard Group is flexing its muscle in delivering elevated and authentic retail experiences for holidaymakers. President & CEO Lisa Bauer tells us more…

For Miami-headquartered Starboard Group, achieving success in cruise retail today goes far beyond the sales performance.

“It’s about creating unique experiences that enhance each guest’s vacation and feel like a natural part of the journey,” President and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bauer told TRBusiness. “When retail is thoughtfully curated and aligned with the character of the ship and the destinations guests are visiting, it becomes a core part of their trip. For Starboard, success means delivering strong results for our cruise line and brand partners while creating unique and personal shopping moments that elevate the overall guest experience.”

The company is walking the talk by bringing new brands and retail experiences to its partners in innovative ways – and its business is growing stronger as a result. The company has a presence on nearly 90 ships across 14 cruise line partners around the world. In 2025 alone, Starboard activated 65 first-at-sea retail offerings, with a case in point being the Chanel beauty shop-in-shop and vintage pre-owned luxury handbags from Fashionphile available on Princess Cruises’ Star Princess. The company also expanded its partnerships with a number of cruise lines and launched a variety of immersive experiences spanning luxury, spirits, jewellery, beauty, fragrance and more. Guests aboard Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady, for instance, have been able to enjoy exclusive liquor tastings, trunk shows, personalised styling sessions and curated fragrances from luxury brands such as brands including Initio, Loewe, Mancera, Montale and Tom Ford.

Last year also saw the milestone launch of the Starboard Resort retail division (in February 2025), extending the company’s remit beyond ships to land-based resort destinations. The move has gathered encouraging “early momentum” said Bauer, and there’s much more to come.

The Edit at the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District.

“Our approach is the same one that has guided Starboard for decades: creating thoughtfully curated retail environments that feel authentic to the destination and enhance the overall guest experience,” she explained. “Our most recent Starboard Resort launch is The Edit at the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District, where we’ve introduced a boutique concept featuring vintage luxury, curated designer goods and personalised shopping experiences. Aside from Savannah, we now have boutiques at Westgate Vacation Villas Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, and at Westgate Las Vegas, and we’re continuing to build our presence in resort destinations while staying focused on creating distinctive retail environments that feel authentic to each location.

“While cruise retail remains the core of our business, resort retail gives us an exciting opportunity to bring our curatorial approach to new environments and customer audiences and we see continued potential to thoughtfully expand this part of our business.”

Legend of the Seas launch

Meanwhile, back on the high seas, a key launch on the horizon is the retail offering onboard Royal Caribbean’s third Icon-class ship, Legend of the Seas, which is scheduled to make its debut in July.

Starboard Group unveiled new, immersive retail experiences onboard Star Princess in November 2025.

“While we can’t unveil specific details just yet, we are thrilled to expand our strong partnership with Royal Caribbean and to be the exclusive retail partner for Legend of the Seas,” said Bauer. “Royal Caribbean’s Icon class is remarkable and we are working closely together to ensure the retail offering complements the overall guest experience onboard and reflects the unique character of this ship.”

The sentiment underscores Starboard’s goal of making each of its cruise line partners feel as if the company is completely focused on their unique guest demographics, itineraries, ship classes and brand DNA.

“To achieve that, we’ll continue to develop and deliver elevated, personalised guest experiences that perfectly suit each partner,” said Bauer. “Guests today are looking for personalisation, luxury experiences and memorable moments, so we’re constantly exploring ways to introduce customisation options, exclusive brand collaborations, destination-inspired assortments and engaging activations that reflect both the cruise line’s brand and the specific journey they’re on.”

Luxury offerings hold particular appeal for holidaymakers shopping for special items like jewellery or a fine watch to mark a celebration or life event. But nurturing partnerships is the linchpin of the strategy. As Bauer stressed: “Working closely with cruise line and brand partners allows us to create retail concepts that feel authentic to each ship while also introducing guests to new brands and experiences they may not encounter elsewhere.”

The Edit at the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District.

Currently, strength is being seen in across categories that guests tend to splurge on while on holiday, such as Swiss watches and fine jewellery, as mentioned above, as well as vintage pre-owned luxury handbags and premium beauty. Niche fragrances is also seeing “stellar growth”, according to the company.

For the bespoke touches that guests desire, Starboard offers jewellery personalisation, ear piercing, liquor and fragrance bottle engraving, as well as customisation of apparel and accessories for adults and kids with embroidery, patches and more.

“Exclusive experiences are also popular and we’ve worked with our brand partners to develop special collaborations and products that aren’t widely available. For example, we launched a special tequila across 26 ships and an exclusive single-barrel bourbon experience,” said Bauer.

Spirit of the ship

When asked what advice Bauer would give to brands looking to enter cruise retail and what would make it the ‘right fit’ versus other travel retail channels, she responded: “Think about cruise retail as a key part of the onboard experience and each specific itinerary, not simply as a distribution channel. Cruise guests are typically on a five- to seven-day vacation, or even longer, and they’re often celebrating something specific, like a birthday, anniversary or other life milestone. So, they tend to be relaxed and in a discovery mindset.

Starboard Group’s 2026 Unleash the Potential Summit in Cancún, Mexico, in January.

“The brands that perform best in this environment are those that embrace curation, storytelling and personalisation and create products and experiences that feel holistically connected to the destinations each guest will experience,” she explained. “They offer something guests can’t easily find at home and immersive experiences like trunk shows, exclusive tastings and customisation options that let travellers create one-of-a-kind keepsakes from their vacation.

“I’d also emphasise how important training is. For us, expertise is key to delivering an unforgettable guest experience, so brands have a real opportunity to help develop onboard teams’ knowledge of their products, brands and how they align with the destinations guests will be visiting.”

In terms of what we can expect to see from Starboard Group in the future, “a number of very exciting announcements” are set to be shared in the coming months.

“Overall, we’ll continue to focus on leading the evolution of the vacation retail experience alongside our partners,” said Bauer. “By leveraging our global resources and expertise, we’ll thoughtfully curate assortments and build strong brand partnerships and concepts that reflect the spirit of each ship, each itinerary and each resort.”

This article first appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of TRBusiness magazine.

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