John Delaney is new president of Windstar Cruises. The seasoned cruise veteran will chart a course for the boutique, small ship cruise line that prides itself on a casual yet elegant approach to smaller harbors, in-port overnights and personalized experiences around the world. His first day in office will be on July 19.

Delaney, formerly SVP of Global Marketing and Sales for Seabourn Cruise Line (a Carnival Corporation), also has significant tenure with The Walt Disney Company and Holland America Line.

“We are very pleased to welcome John on- board. Cruise vacationers and our guests have every reason to expect a new era of exciting, wonderful and memorable vacation experiences on our yachts and in the ports Windstar visits,” said Andrew N. Todd, chief executive officer of Xanterra Parks & Resorts, parent company of Windstar Cruises. “Windstar just welcomed back the renovated Star Pride, and since taking ownership of Windstar in 2011, we have invested more than $40 million into our three sailing yachts and three motorized all-suite yachts, so this is an ideal time for John to join the company and contribute to its success.”

From 2011 through June of this year, John was the senior vice president of global marketing and sales for Seabourn Cruise Line. Prior to that he also held a number of positions at Holland America, including vice president of revenue marketing, director of special projects at corporate audit services and manager of management advisory services.

Before working for Carnival Corporation, he spent six years at The Walt Disney Company starting as a financial analyst in food operations at The Disneyland Resort and working his way up and through various departments including senior business planner for theme park operations revenue and manager of marketing finance. After a brief stint with Gateway Business, he returned to The Walt Disney Company at Disneyland Resort culminating as director, financial planning and analysis.

John earned his BS in Business Administration and Accounting from California State University in Long Beach, California, and resides in Seattle.