Cruise Line Expert Witnesses

This expert is well versed in all areas of maritime safety and regulation. He spent 30 years in the United States Coast Guard serving as a Boatswains Mate and Chief Warrant Officer, among other positions in operations and safety. He has conducted a myriad of law enforcement boardings to ensure vessels were in compliance with federal law and safety requirements. He is Coast Guard trained in Jones Act, OSHA Regulations, ABYC standards, and SMS (Safety Management Systems) requirements. This expert is currently a marine safety consultant at his own private consulting practice, where he advises on liability and negligence of marine equipment and behavior aboard ships.

This hospitality expert has extensive experience in facilities management, corporate compliance, and social responsibility. He has held numerous positions at top international hotel chains including Marriott International and The Ritz-Carlton. His positions have included leading overall maintenance of hotels and training individuals in proper maintenance and safety procedures. He has extensive experience leading teams of engineers and hotel directors in hotel operations. Currently, this expert is a hospitality consultant focusing on facilities management training and operational standards.

This hotel/hospitality expert is a certified hotel administrator who has been heavily involved in the industry for more than 40 years, including positions as General Manager of a Best Western Inn Motel, Executive Vice President of State Street Associates, and General Manager of AmeriSuites Hotel. He is a former program director/associate professor of hospitality management at a local college, and is currently a consultant in the hotel/hospitality industry. He has 11 years of experience as an expert witness/consultant for attorneys with cases in his field.

This expert specializes in hotel operations, hospitality industry franchising, management company operations, and guest safety issues. He has more than 40 years of experience in the field. He is a certified hotel administrator. He started his career as the youngest general manager of the Holiday Inn chain at the age of 18. He served as President & CEO of The Equity Hotel Corporation which operated approximately 45 hotels in 14 states including economy, mid-tier and luxury resorts. He eventually took the position of President & CEO of the Ramada Hotel chain and Executive Vice President of the Cendant Hotel Division, now Wyndham Worldwide. This expert is currently a private hotel consultant as well as CEO of Vimana Franchise Systems which franchises Centerstone Inns, Hotels & Plaza Hotels as well as Key West Inns, Hotels & Resorts.

This expert has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality and restaurant industry. His experience includes positions at convention hotels in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., as well as management with fortune 500 restaurant companies in major cities throughout the country. He specializes in restaurant and hotel openings and consulting, as well as restaurant operations including safety and management. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Hospitality Management at a mid-Atlantic/northeast regional college.

This highly qualified expert has over 20 years of experience in the hotel industry. His hotel safety and maintenance experience includes 10 years with Marriott Hotels, Resorts, and Suites in various management positions. This expert was on the opening management team of the San Francisco Marriott, a 1500-room convention hotel. He was honored with the Director of Services of the Year award, Northwest Region. He later moved to the Marriott regional office in San Ramon, California as a Total Quality Management Facilitator where he worked with 17 hotel executive committees in the Northwest Region to develop strategic initiatives for each hotel. He has published 30+ articles on the hospitality industry and serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism. He earned his Bachelor's from Indiana University and his Master's degree in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management and PhD in Education-Instructional Design from Purdue University. Currently, this expert is an Associate Professor in the School of Hospitality Business at a major university, where he teaches classes on Executive Housekeeping Management.

This highly qualified maritime safety expert has been captaining ships for more than 30 years. He is trained in all operations of maritime operations and safety and has instructed on ships and ship safety extensively. He currently owns his own maritime safety and transportation logistics consulting firm, where he conducts training in the class room, in ports, and aboard ships.

This expert brings 28 years of furniture industry and seating experience (including development and catalog introduction of 250+ seating and table collections and 100+ custom designs), with hands-on expertise in all aspects of furniture development, collaborative design, frame construction, commercial use and hospitality environments, warranty, care and maintenance, user inspections, all types of field issues and product support. He spent many years working right alongside many of the world's premier independent product designers and factory resources, from the initial concept rendering stage, through the entire prototyping process, then coordinating with the component suppliers, conducting product testing in laboratory environments and then making sure the products are properly manufactured for their targeted markets, intended use and specific types of customers.

This cruise ship physician, trained in emergency medicine, earned his MBBS (British equivalent of MD) at London's top medical institution. He has more than 18 years of experience in acute clinical medicine and more than 7 years working in the cruise ship industry, both as shoreside management and at sea as a ship physician. He began his career as a Senior Physician at Carnival Cruise Lines, before moving on to physician leadership roles at Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises. Currently, this expert is a consulting physician and responsible officer for a top international cruise line.

This expert has more than 35 years of experience in the maritime and offshore oil & gas industries including an active seagoing career as a deck officer on tankers and bulk carriers; terminal controller in a container terminal responsible for the loading and discharging of ocean-going container vessels; master/offshore installation manager of semi-submersible drilling rigs; and marine surveying involved with all types of surveys in the offshore industry. He is a Master Mariner Unlimited and is currently an independent maritime and onshore/offshore drilling consultant.

This highly qualified expert has extensive experience in Food Safety and Nutritional Management Services. He holds certifications including ServSafe Food Safety Instructor/Proctor; Certified Executive Chef; Certified Culinary Educator; Registered Dietician; as well as a New York State License from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This expert is nationally recognized as a food safety trainer operating certification classes and "Third-party Audits" throughout New York State approved by local Health Departments. Furthermore, he has traveled the United States as well as Canada inspecting food service operations and restaurants, and instructing food safety certification programs. Currently, he is a Professor of Hospitality instructing food-safety classes for various colleges within New York State; and President of a training and consulting company in the Greater New York City Area.

This experienced hospitality expert has spent 35+ years working in hotel, resort, food/beverage, and country club settings. He earned the Grand Diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and also completed additional hospitality coursework at Cornell University. The expert has held many different roles at hotels and resorts, including positions as the Director of Catering and the Director of Food and beverage for multiple facilities. Recently, he spent 6 years as the General Manager of Hunting Hills Country Club in Roanoke, Virginia, where he was responsible for overall management of a facility with an 18-hole golf course, 10 tennis courts, a pool, a snack bar, and three restaurants/lounges. He now serves as a consultant to the private club industry.

This highly experienced expert has spent over 45 years in maritime-focused education, work, and consulting. He studied at Metropolitan University in London, where obtained a Master of Foreign Going degree. The expert also completed many other nautical courses and served in roles ranging from Sub-Lieutenant to Commander with the Royal Naval Reserve. He was a Chief Officer with P&O Cruises and then a Captain with Princess Cruises on worldwide itineraries. From 1995 until 2001, the expert served as Princess Cruises' Vice President of Marine Operations, responsible for the safe and efficient operation of 10 cruise ships including what was then the largest passenger ship in the world. Since 2001, he has been actively consulting in the industry.

This maritime safety and security expert spent 38 years working for the Horizon Lines / CSX Lines / Sea-Land Service entity, most recently serving as the Director of Marine Services from 1995 until 2013. In this position, he was responsible for vessel safety and security, crew management, and operations oversight. He launched an emergency response system during his tenure and also implemented new safety processes on all vessels. The expert has represented US interests at IMO and the UN on hazardous materials and freight container safety and has played a leadership role with many major industry advocacy and standards making bodies. He earned his B.S. in Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and his M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

This expert has a quarter century of experience in offshore and high-level onshore marine related positions in the maritime and offshore oil and gas industries. A United States Coast Guard licensed Master since 2007, her background includes operational experience on container vessels, tankers, general cargo vessels, Ro-Ros, LMSRs, research vessels, and yard patrol craft. Her knowledge base also includes extensive experience in maritime operations, safety procedures, operations, logistics, consulting, project management, damage control and training. She was a Commander in the US Navy Reserve and served in the United States Merchant Marine Program until 2011.

This expert has 15 years experience in the food and beverage industry. He is a seasoned expert in all aspects of the hospitality world, including but not limited to management, acquisition, development, and financing. He has advanced and overseen the strategic business plans of numerous fine dine, high volume, quick service, and multi-unit food and beverage outlets across the Western United States. Prior to founding his hospitality consulting firm, he was with Paramount Pictures, where he served as the General Manager of Dining Services, overseeing and managing outlets servicing individuals ranging from the blue collar to Hollywood elites. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a wide variety of outlets such as quick service restaurants, full service bars and restaurants, hotel bars and lounges.

This highly experienced marine insurance and claims consultant began his career as a Merchant Navy Deck Officer. He went on to become a Claims Executive and eventually earned his M.A. in Maritime Policy from Greenwich University. The expert spent 12 years with CP SHIPS, where he was the Vice President of Insurance & Claims and reported to the CFO of the 80-ship company. He was a delegate to the United Nations fort the International Chamber of Shipping, where he was responsible for negotiating the precursor to The Rotterdam Rules. He also has experience as a lecturer in maritime policy courses. Currently, he is active as a maritime insurance expert witness and consultant.

This expert is an award-winning, certified interior designer and LEED Accredited Professional specializing in hospitality and residential interiors. She received her Masters of Science degree in Interior Design from Pratt Institute, and studied furniture design at the Domus Academy in Milan, Italy. She launched her career in New York City, where she led the interior design for numerous projects including the Millennium tower “ the city's first environmentally-focused condominium high-rise, and other notable high rises and apartments. While living there, she served on the faculty of the New York School of Interior Design. She is currently the Owner and Principal Interior Designer for an eco-luxury interior design studio.

This expert has over 20 years of experience as a mariner. He received a B.S. in Marine Transportation from Texas A&M University and a M.S. in Marine Management from the Maine Maritime Academy as well as a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law. In addition, he served on the United States Naval Reserve for over 20 years, eventually retiring as a Commander, and trained hundreds of cadets at the Texas Maritime Academy as Commandant of Cadets. Licensed as a United States Coast Guard Master Mariner of Any Gross Tons, he served as Master on the US Training Ship Texas Clipper II and on the United States Naval Ship Sirius for Operation Katrina Relief in New Orleans, foreign flag passenger ship doing cruises to nowhere and a US research ship. He currently serves as Senior Pilot at a major seaport with approximately 5,000 ship transits and serves as a lead Instructor for a maritime academy and has developed senior level courses for captains, senior officers, and pilots.

Robert Marcarelli is a well-known and respected chef, manager and restaurant consultant known throughout the Connecticut area. He has over fifteen years of hands-on business experience in restaurants, retail, catering, and the hospitality industry and over 20 years in business management. Robert’s experiences of working in the front and back of the house are what give him the competitive edge in our consulting field. Those skills, and specifically, his passion for taking an individual’s vision and developing it into a business plan, design, and brand name, set Robert apart in the industry. That was the driving force behind his past endeavors, including starting Pi LLC. Restaurant Consulting in 2005. Robert has been personally involved in various complex and of-the-moment hospitality concepts. His experience ranges from quick serve to fine dining, such as: a High Volume Brick Oven Pizza Restaurant, Gourmet Markets, Night Clubs, Banquet Facilities, an award winning Italian Bistro and Wine Bar, Connecticut’s First Green Certified Restaurant, a national known Soda Manufacturing Company, a NY TIMES rated “Excellent” Seafood Restaurant and more. He brings with him a deep knowledge of current food trends, award winning hospitality and of course, the network of Connecticut’s business leaders, leading Restaurant Groups, and the Industry’s best: Chefs, Managers and Professional Staff he has built lasting relationships with during his years of practice.