What Starboard Group does

Starboard Group is a privately held vacation retail curator headquartered in Doral, Florida, founded in 1958 and majority-owned by Global Travel Retail Holdings, a joint venture formed in 2023 between LVMH and four additional investors. The company operates onboard retail concessions on nearly 100 cruise ships across 14 major cruise lines — including Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Virgin Voyages, Azamara, Silversea, Scenic, Crystal, and The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection — curating products from over 700 brands across luxury watches, fine jewelry, fashion, beauty, spirits, and exclusive first-at-sea merchandise with tax- and duty-free pricing.

Since a 2024 restructuring, Starboard has organized its operations into three business units: Starboard Cruise (mainstream and premium cruise concessions across 90+ ships), Starboard Luxury (curated luxury retail for ultra-premium and expedition cruise lines), and Starboard Resort (land-based vacation retail at premier resorts including Westgate Resorts and JW Marriott properties). The company also operates a Miami customer service and distribution center handling mail orders, returns, after-sales service, and a 45-day fine jewelry guarantee with international watch warranty support.

Starboard monetizes primarily through transactional merchandise sales on cruise ships and at resorts. Its go-to-market combines dedicated enterprise account teams that build data-driven, customized assortments for each cruise-line partner with direct-to-consumer onboard retail. Notable proprietary technology includes the SkInsight AI skin analysis tool, deployed in partnership with Perfect Corp across 30 cruise ships to power AI-enabled beauty diagnostics. Sister company Onboard Media, also under Global Travel Retail Holdings, supplies multimedia and digital content that complements the onboard retail environment. The company reports 1,001–5,000 employees across more than 60 nationalities serving shipboard and shoreside operations.

Name

Starboard Group

Legal name

Starboard Group

Website

https://starboardretailgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Starboard Group is a privately held vacation retail curator, founded in 1958 and majority-owned by an LVMH-anchored joint venture, operating duty-free retail concessions on nearly 100 cruise ships across 14 cruise lines and expanding into land-based resort retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Retail

akta.pro primary industry

Cruise Ship Duty-Free Alcohol & Tobacco Retail (CRANAIAC)

Keywords

• Cruise ship retail
• Vacation retail curation
• Duty-free luxury goods
• Onboard retail services
• Resort retail operations

Headquarters

HQ city

Doral

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Onboard Cruise Ship Retail: Starboard operates retail stores across cruise ships, selling luxury goods, watches, jewelry, beauty products, liquor, and fashion items. The company generates revenue through merchandise sales with tax- and duty-free savings passed to cruise passengers, achieving record sales in pre-owned luxury watches and handbags.
2. Resort Retail: Starboard expanded into land-based vacation resorts, creating shopping environments that resonate with resort guests and drive measurable growth and profitability for resort partners.
3. Exclusive Brand Partnerships and Curated Experiences: Starboard creates exclusive retail experiences, first-at-sea offerings, and immersive activations for cruise lines, often with luxury brands like Clarins boutique on Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Core offering

Starboard Group operates curated retail stores aboard cruise ships and at premier vacation resorts, selling luxury watches, fine jewelry, beauty products, liquor, fashion, handbags, and exclusive merchandise through brands such as Diageo, Bacardi, Clarins, and various jewelry houses. The company delivers its offering via three dedicated business units (Starboard Cruise, Starboard Luxury, and Starboard Resort), supported by sister company Onboard Media for multimedia and digital content. Pricing is generally tax- and duty-free for cruise passengers, with custom assortments built to each cruise line or resort partner's brand DNA.

Product overview

Starboard Group is the world's leading vacation retail curator, operating as three bespoke business units: Starboard Cruise, Starboard Luxury, and Starboard Resort. Starboard Cruise manages retail across over 90 ships for 14 cruise line partners, offering products across more than 700 brands including luxury watches, fine jewelry, fashion, beauty, and liquor. Starboard Luxury provides highly curated luxury goods and bespoke experiences for ultra-premium cruise partners such as Azamara, Scenic, Silversea, and The Ritz Carlton. Starboard Resort extends the company's retail expertise to premier vacation resorts on land, creating immersive shopping environments that reflect destination themes. The company also offers dedicated customer service and after-sales support, including fine jewelry guarantees and watch warranty management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Starboard Cruise: Retail experiences aboard cruise ships across 14+ cruise line partners and over 90 ships.
• Starboard Luxury
• Starboard Resort

Products and services

• Starboard Cruise Onboard Retail Operations End-to-end managed retail operations aboard cruise ships for 14 cruise line partners, selling luxury goods, watches, jewelry, beauty products, liquor, and exclusive merchandise with tax- and duty-free pricing across more than 700 brands, serving cruise passengers and cruise line partners such as Princess Cruises, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity.
• Starboard Luxury Onboard Retail Specialized luxury retail curation for ultra-luxury and expedition cruise brands including Azamara, Scenic Luxury Cruises, Silversea, The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, and Crystal, focusing on exclusive product assortments, expedition gear, destination-inspired artisanal goods, and luxury apparel for affluent travelers.
• Starboard Resort Retail Operations Managed retail environments at premier vacation resorts including Westgate Resorts and JW Marriott properties, offering tailored retail strategies, immersive store design, destination-themed merchandise, and curated lifestyle product assortments for resort guests.
• Pre-Owned Luxury Watches and Handbags A specialized retail category aboard cruise ships offering authenticated pre-owned luxury watches and handbags to cruise passengers seeking high-value vacation purchases; the category achieved record sales in 2025, exceeding budget targets.
• Onboard Fine Jewelry and Watch After-Sales Services After-sales service program for fine jewelry and designer watches purchased aboard cruise ships, including a 45-day manufacturer defect guarantee, repair and sizing services, and international watch warranty support managed by Starboard's Miami distribution and customer service center.

Quantifiable outcome

• Record sales achieved in pre-owned luxury watches and handbags in 2025, exceeding budget targets
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Carnival Cruise LinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Partnership to launch limited-edition Bulleit Bourbon exclusively on 14 Carnival ships as part of A250 summer celebrations honoring America's 250th anniversary. Single-barrel bourbon personally selected by Lisa Bauer (Starboard CEO) and Christine Duffy (Carnival President) at Starboard's Unleash the Potential Summit.
• DiageocoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 17 June 2026Spirits partner collaborating with Starboard and Carnival to launch limited-edition Bulleit Bourbon exclusively on Carnival ships. Starboard's 2026 Summit featured partnerships with 17 brand partners including Diageo and Bacardi.
• Princess CruisesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 June 2026Expanded partnership to manage retail experiences across half of Princess Cruises' global fleet, adding 8 additional ships including Crown Princess, Diamond Princess, Discovery Princess, Enchanted Princess, Island Princess, Royal Princess, Ruby Princess, and Sapphire Princess. The expansion follows successful launch aboard Star Princess and includes exclusive merchandise, first-at-sea retail experiences, and destination-focused shopping environments.
• Essence CorpminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Beauty brand partnership featured at Seatrade Cruise Global 2026 as part of case studies on premium partnerships in cruise retail.
• Harding+minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Retail concession partner featured at Seatrade Cruise Global 2026 in discussions on pipeline opportunities and partnerships in cruise retail.
• AvoltaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2026Partner mentioned in Seatrade 2026 discussions on pre-loved fashion retail in cruise ships alongside LePrix.
• Virgin VoyagescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 September 2025Expanded partnership to serve as exclusive retail partner for Virgin Voyages' new ship Brilliant Lady. Features curated, immersive retail experiences with luxury, sustainability, and discovery elements, including first-at-sea offerings like a Clarins boutique.
• Perfect CorpcoreTechnology or Integration · 15 October 2024Partnership to roll out Perfect Corp's SkInsight AI skin analysis tool across 30 cruise ships, bringing AI-powered skincare solutions to cruise retail.
• Westgate ResortscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024Resort partner for Starboard's debut into land-based vacation retail, creating shopping environments at Westgate resort properties.
• Onboard MediaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Sister company within Global Travel Retail Holdings that delivers innovative multimedia strategies, as well as print, video and digital content that redefine vacation retail experiences.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Harding+: Major cruise ship concessionaire and onboard retailer competing directly with Starboard for cruise line retail contracts. Harding+ operates similar duty-free-style retail, jewelry, and liquor concessions across multiple cruise brands and was featured alongside Starboard at Seatrade Cruise Global 2026.
• DFS Group: LVMH-owned luxury travel retailer operating duty-free stores globally, primarily in airports. As a fellow LVMH portfolio company, DFS shares Starboard's luxury brand sourcing advantages and operates an overlapping duty-free retail model in travel channels.

Broad incumbents

• Avolta: Global travel-retail giant formed from the Dufry and Autogrill merger, operating duty-free concessions across airports, cruise ports, and other travel channels. Avolta is pushing into cruise retail, including pre-loved fashion offerings discussed alongside Starboard at Seatrade 2026.
• Gebr. Heinemann: One of Europe's largest travel-retail distributors and concessionaires, supplying duty-free shops across airports, ferry lines, and border stores. Heinemann's border and ferry business directly overlaps with Starboard's cruise retail concessions model.
• Aer Rianta International: International travel-retail subsidiary of the Irish airport authority, operating duty-free concessions across airports and travel hubs globally. ARI competes for travel-retail contracts in similar duty-free channels and serves overlapping luxury brand partners.
• Lotte Duty Free: Major Asian-headquartered duty-free retailer operating airport and downtown duty-free stores globally. LDF competes with Starboard in the broader duty-free travel-retail space and has been expanding into non-airport travel channels.
• The Shilla Duty Free (Hotel Shilla): Korean luxury hotel group's duty-free subsidiary, operating major duty-free stores in airports and downtown locations across Asia. Comparable to Starboard as a duty-free operator working with luxury brands to capture travel-intent shoppers.
• Lagardère Travel Retail: Global travel-retail operator with duty-free, foodservice, and specialty retail concessions in airports and travel hubs worldwide. Operates an adjacent travel-retail concession model to Starboard's onboard stores.

Regional players

• King Power Group: Thailand-based travel-retail conglomerate operating major duty-free concessions across Thai airports and downtown locations. Comparable as a duty-free retailer but primarily regional to Southeast Asia.

Others

• Onboard Media: Sister company of Starboard under Global Travel Retail Holdings, providing multimedia, print, and digital content for cruise ship retail. Not a direct competitor but part of the same corporate group and adjacent ecosystem participant.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/starboardcruiseservices
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/starboardgroup
• Instagraminstagram.com/starboardcruiseservices

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Starboard Group