PIRAEUS, Greece — Leslie Peden has been appointed President, North America for Celestyal Cruises.

Peden comes to Celestyal with 30-plus years of experience in cruising, tour operations, air and rail travel, including senior management and executive roles for Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Holidays Cruises and Island Cruises.

Peden held full P&L responsibility for Virgin Holidays Cruises and the integration of this business unit into the wider Virgin Travel Group. He developed and executed Virgin Holidays Cruises’ first fully-integrated marketing campaign with the launch of a new dedicated cruise brochure, press creative and the business entity’s first-ever national TV, digital and social media campaign.

“We are excited to bring Mr. Peden on board. He is an industry standout and an innovator who brings decades of travel expertise, with an emphasis on cruising,” says Kyriakos Anastassiadis, CEO of Celestyal Cruises. “We expect he will bring immeasurable enthusiasm to his role and we look forward to him achieving tremendous success in North America.”

Celestyal Cruises, with five mid-sized vessels, is the only home-porting cruise operator in Greece and offers Greek Islands cruises as well as Cuba cruises.