Walter Littlejohn appointed MD and VP of Crystal River Cruises

Crystal Cruises has named Walter Littlejohn as vice president and managing director of Crystal River Cruises.

Littlejohn will begin the role on 6 June, just over one month before the maiden voyage of the line’s first luxury river ship, Crystal Mozart.

Over the next two years, Crystal River Cruises will see six additional luxury new builds, beginning with river yachts Crystal Debussy, Crystal Mahler, Crystal Bach and Crystal Ravel in the summer of 2017.

Edie Rodriguez, Crystal’s CEO and president, said: “Walter comes to Crystal at a pivotal time for Crystal River Cruises, and his wealth of expertise and driving spirit will certainly help ensure excellence during the launch of our river experiences and this period of extraordinary growth.

Littlejohn is a travel industry veteran having spent 24 years in various roles. Most recently he was vice president of AmaWaterways.

Crystal reports that Littlejohn also has strong ties to the travel agent community, having co-founded his own agency at the beginning of his career, which he ran for 14 years.

His appointment comes after the announcement of the departure of longtime Crystal executive, Philip Ordever.

Littlejohn will divide his time between the Miami branch office and the Crystal River Cruises’ headquarters, located in Amsterdam.

He will report to Crystal’s COO, Thomas Mazloum, and SVP of marketing and sales, Carmen Roig.