Jan Swartz

Executive Vice President, Strategic Operations, Carnival Corporation & PLC
Jan Swartz Headshot

Jan leads strategy and innovation, external affairs, corporate marketing, and destination development for Carnival Corporation & plc., one of the world’s largest leisure travel companies with a portfolio of world-class cruise line brands including AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (UK), Princess Cruises, and Seabourn. Reporting to the CEO, Jan also oversees the corporation’s Land Operations, including Alaska-Yukon and corporate destinations such as nine wilderness lodges, exclusive islands and scenic tourist trains and rail cars.

Jan brings to the role vast experience driving business performance in highly complex global environments, having delivered category growth, operational excellence, and best-in-class service for more than 3 million guests annually across four of Carnival Corporation’s nine global cruise lines as the chief executive supervising Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, and P&O (Australia). For almost three decades with the company, first as a management consultant with Bain & Company working with Princess Cruises, Jan has been instrumental in setting strategy and leading the commercial activities for Carnival Corporation brands, including all aspects of domestic and international sales, global marketing and public relations, commercial planning, yield management, and customer service, and spanning all customer segments, sales channels, and go-to-market systems.

Among Jan’s many accomplishments, she spearheaded the company’s expansion in Asia by opening offices in Japan, China, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. She also led the way in guest experience innovation on Princess Cruises through Ocean Medallion® – a free, encrypted, quarter-sized, wearable device that enables everything from faster boarding and touch-free stateroom access to chatting with shipmates and ordering food and drinks on-demand for delivery anywhere on the ship, and much more.

Roles and Chronology

  • 2023 – Present: Executive Vice President, Strategic Operations
  • 2020 – 2023: Group President, Holland America Group, overseeing Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, and P&O Cruises (Australia)
  • 2016 – 2020: Group President, Princess Cruises & Carnival Australia
  • 2013 – 2016: President, Princess Cruises 
  • 2009 – 2013: Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing & Customer Service, Princess Cruises
  • 2004 – 2009: Senior Vice President, Customer Service & Sales, Princess Cruises and Cunard
  • 2001 – 2004: Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Carnival Corporation & plc
  • 1999 – 2000: CEO, MGX Media
  • 1992 – 1999: Management Consultant, Bain & Company

Corporate and charitable leadership

Jan is a member of the board of directors for MGM Resorts International serving on the Finance and Nominating/Corporate Governance Committees. She has also served in various international advisory board roles including marketing committee chairperson for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the industry trade association. Jan’s leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic is featured in a best-selling Harvard Business School case study, and she has lectured at Harvard Business School, Kellogg, University of Virginia, University of Southern California, and Loyola Law School, among others. 

Jan founded The Goodness Web (TGW), a 501(C)(3) nonprofit focused on supporting youth mental health by accelerating systemic change through a unique social venture capital model. In 2023, Jan wasselected as a finalist for the Young President Organization’s Impact Award recognizing members who drive significant, sustainable, and scalable impact.

Personal and educational background

Jan earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia. 

She and her husband live in the Los Angeles and are the proud parents of two amazing young women attending college.