Cunard Names New VP of Sales for North America

Carnival Corp.’s Cunard cruise line on Tuesday announced that it was making a number of changes to its senior leadership roles for its North American operations.

Cunard announced Jamie Paiko, who currently serves as its senior director of marketing, would take over as its vice president of sales for North America, filling the position vacated by Steve Smotrys, who joined Seabourn as its vice president of global sales last month.

Paiko, a 25-year cruise industry veteran who spent time in various roles with Cunard and Princess Cruises during her career, will oversee Cunard’s national account managers and support the line’s regional sales directors and field sales team. She will also head all of Cunard’s North American public relations.

Joining Paiko, Cunard also announced that Nicole Knox, currently a manager of advertising and digital marketing at Cunard, would be promoted to director of marketing, overseeing all of the line’s North American marketing. Knox has been with Cunard since 2005.

And, rounding out the moves, Cunard also announced that Jeriel Lubaton, who currently serves as director of pricing and demand for Cunard North America, will also add management of the customer service team for Cunard North America.

The appointments, Cunard said, were made to help strengthen the line’s North American operations ahead of its restart next year.

“Throughout its esteemed history, North America has been a cornerstone of Cunard’s success,” Cunard president Simon Palethorpe said in a statement announcing the news. “We plan on growing this ever more, including through our return to sailing in Alaska, and these three appointments will further strengthen our presence in North American market.”