How Travel Agents Can Close the Sale on a First-Time Cruiser
by Richard D'Ambrosio /
It’s the holy grail. The first-time cruiser. The cruise industry continuously champions the opportunity travel agents have to increase their sales and income by seeking out and closing the deal on the nine out of ten Americans who have never taken a cruise.
But what motivates someone to finally take to the seas? And how can agents find and inspire them?
Courtenay Cooper Hall, editor-in-chief of BELLA, a high-end fashion magazine based in New York and Los Angeles, took her family on their first-ever cruise this year, after years of choosing other types of vacations.
“I never thought I would take a cruise. It wasn’t on our bucket list,” Hall said in an interview with Travel Market Report. The concept of a cruise was not foreign to Hall, “because every time I mentioned cruising through Bella’s travel pages, people would say it was the best. They were raving about it.”
Still, her family “did a lot of Disney World and Disneyland. We fell into a pattern as parents. But even though we had amazing memories on those trips, I knew I wanted to do so much more and see more.”
Step one: Make the recommendation
Travel agents who are successful at getting clients to take cruises for the first time say that first step of offering it is key. This is where a good customer relationship management program comes in. Are you tracking what types of vacations your clients are taking? Have you created a list of good clients who have never taken a cruise? Are you incorporating that list into your upcoming year’s sales goals?
When you finally have that opportunity to recommend a cruise, it does not have to be a hard sell, Hall’s experience shows.
At the beginning of 2017, Hall was talking with her travel advisor at First In Service Travel, New York, about their family’s plans for spring break. She was figuring on the family tradition – renting a home in California.
“It’s what we always do, but they asked ‘Why don’t you do something different?’ I asked them what they meant, and they asked if my family might enjoy taking a cruise,” Hall said, and they offered up Royal Caribbean for its family programs.
“I have traveled without the children, all over the world. Cruising never popped into my mind, and I applaud First in Service. If they hadn’t mentioned it, we still wouldn’t have taken one.”
Step two: Be prepared for resistance
Not every client is aware of why they resist or they have not thought about taking a cruise. When First in Service offered the idea, Hall needed to confront subtle thoughts that lay below the surface of her family’s never having taken a cruise.
“I’ll admit it. I was nervous. The thought of being in the middle of the ocean, what if something happens,” she said.
Hall was also worried about seasickness; something she realizes now was a misplaced concern. “It’s a misconception. People have to be educated on the size of the ship and how far removed you are from what would cause most people to get seasick. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine being on this huge amazing ship and not feeling seasick.”
Step three: Sell the experience
As the discussion progressed, Hall’s agent at First in Service moved away from issues and concerns, and focused on selling the family vacation experience of a Royal Caribbean cruise, including the different ports the family would visit, the activities for the children and the food and entertainment.
Hall supplemented her knowledge by researching Royal Caribbean. She began to be sold on the concept of the five family members having a home base that moved with them from island to island, negating the cumbersome task of the packing and unpacking normally associated with a multi-destination trip.
“I never thought about the benefits of having everything of ours safe in one spot, and having to walk only five or ten minutes to our next adventure.”
Agents who spoke with TMR said that one of the best tools for family cruise sales is to give parents the tools to sell the idea to the children. Providing the right multimedia sales tools from the cruise lines is particularly useful in stimulating the enthusiasm of children.
Once Hall was serious about the concept, she took the idea to her family. “When we spoke to the kids, it took two seconds for them to be jumping up and down. I didn’t realize it was their dream.”
Hall let First in Service plan the entire trip, including the specific seven-night southern Caribbean sailing on Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas.
Step four: Let your clients sell for you
Hall chronicled her family’s vacation online, leaving one of the best sales tools a travel agent could ask for: a glowing testimonial.
The day-by-day journal of her vacation, with photos, can help agents push an interested client over the top, and onto a cruise. For example, Hall raved about their stop at Antigua, her favorite island on the cruise.
“I have never seen whiter sand or bluer ocean,” she wrote in her online journal. The island also delivered the top excursion highlight of the trip, Hall said, a snorkeling boat ride. “After about an hour at sea, the tour guides brought us to a private island that was hidden behind a mountain and only visible if you were on a boat sitting directing in front it. It was spectacular, and a place I will definitely visit again.”
While the entertainment, food and activities captivated Hall’s children, “their favorite part of the trip was the people who work on the ship. We bonded with them. The kids still talk about them.”
Hall’s fondest moment was the Flag Ceremony on the last day at sea. “Every single crew member from the ship comes out, holding the flags of their countries. There were hundreds of them, and people were cheering as their flag came out.”
“Nowadays, with all of the divisiveness in the world, there was this tremendous sense of worldwide unity that night, all of us floating together on that ocean. It was very moving and I will never forget how I felt.”
The Hall family is hooked. “It’s literally our family favorite vacation now. The kids are begging us to go again.” The Halls are considering trying Norwegian Cruises in the spring.