About Us - Starboard Cruise

Our Story

Who Is Starboard?

We’re the people that create memorable vacation retail experiences. As the world’s leading luxury vacation retailer at sea, we enhance the shopping experience through a range of special offerings – from “first at sea” brands to customized cruise line brand mementos; from destination-inspired artisanal goods and sustainably sourced products to industry-first digital encounters; with experiences that become favorite moments our guests relive again and again once back home.

Our story begins over 60 years ago, when commercial pilot A.E. Merhige discovered duty-free shopping on his European travels. He envisioned introducing this retail concept in the United States. His dream became reality in 1958, when Starboard entered the industry with the first travel duty-free shopping experience at Miami International Airport.

In 2000, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton company added us to their family. Today, we’re recognized as one of the 75 exceptional Maisons in the group’s world-class brands and we are known as the preferred partner for luxury retail at sea. We’re reinforced by our relationship with Onboard Media, our sister company. This powerful combination gives us an innovative multimedia suite of services and access to print, video and digital content that constantly transforms the retail and hospitality markets.

Years in Business

Cruise Partners

Ships

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Brand Partners

Fully Owned, Dedicated Distribution Center

People Make the Difference

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Shoreside Team Members

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Shipboard Team Members

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Nationalities Represented by Our Diverse Team

What Matters to Us
Our purpose is to curate a vibrant world

HOW? You May Ask
We curate a vibrant world by transforming goods and experiences into unforgettable moments that matter and memories you can touch. Through discovery and exploration, we welcome you into a world of handcrafted collections and custom-designed products infused with color, vibrancy and life. We are bold enough to surprise you with the unexpected, by curating personalized treasures that delight your senses, spark your joy and inspire your wanderlust.

We view ourselves as “alchemists,” transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary to create elevated impact and value. Our purpose comes to life when our customers, guests and partners join us in our quest to reimagine a world where we are all alchemists, where we all unleash our creativity and imagination. Our LVMH heritage of luxury and craftsmanship, combined with our close ties with renowned brands and local artisans, creates a colorful palette of possibilities to inspire joie de vivre.

We also pride ourselves on being the first in the industry to build cruise-line-dedicated account teams. These teams truly get each of our cruise line partners’ brand DNA which drives the development and implementation of cruise line curated products and experiences our diverse cruise guests are looking for – and that our stellar teams on board bring to life through memorable retail experiences.

Life is too precious to waste any moment. Together we are committed to our people and the planet. We live with agility, empathy and mindfulness, and as fast learners, we are adaptable, balancing vision and execution, striving to always add value for others, and to leave the people and places we experience better than we found them.

People Make the Difference

At Starboard and Onboard Media, our family includes more than 60 nationalities on land and at sea. This incredible diversity requires that we constantly ask ourselves if we are being as equitable and inclusive as possible in our business practices.

Our award-winning work and innovative projects can only be achieved by vibrant, diverse and inclusive teams.

We pride ourselves on fostering an environment where our people can bring their authentic selves to work and feel a strong sense of belonging. Our teams are constantly challenging the status quo to ensure that our organization is striving to be more collaborative, inclusive and competitive through our four business resource groups (BRGs):