Peter G. Ratcliffe ~ CEO of P&O Princess Cruises Ltd.

Peter Ratcliffe began his career in the cruise industry when he joined one of the most recognized maritime companies in the world, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), in 1973. After rising through the ranks of the British-based company, he was named president of Princess Cruises in 1993.

Ratcliffe was appointed head of P&O’s cruise division in February 2000. Following a demerger from P&O later that year to form an independent public company called P&O Princess Cruises plc, Ratcliffe was named chief executive officer of the new company which was the world’s third largest cruise operator at the time. After a subsequent merger of that company into Carnival Corporation in April 2003, Ratcliffe was named one of four executive directors of Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise vacation company in the world with a portfolio of 13 distinct brands comprised of the leading cruise operators in both North America and Europe.

Today Ratcliffe is responsible for Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises and Seattle-based Princess Tours, along with all of Carnival’s U.K.-oriented brands including Cunard Line Ltd. (which includes Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line), P&O Cruises, Ocean Village and Swan Hellenic. He also oversees the P&O Cruises Australia brand.

Ratcliffe joined Princess Cruises in 1986 as chief financial officer and subsequently was appointed senior vice president of customer services, and then chief operating officer in 1989. Prior to Princess, his earlier career was spent with P&O Containers Limited in London and Sydney, where he ultimately became group financial controller. Prior to joining P&O, he worked for the London accounting firm of Coopers and Lybrand, after graduating from Cambridge University in 1969 with a BA in Economics and Mathematics.

He served as the chairman of the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) in 1997 and 1998.

Ratcliffe was born in Manchester, England, in 1948, and now resides in a suburb of Los Angeles with his wife Alison.