Popular Music Cruises Attract Repeat, New Clients

Judging by increased supply alone, music theme cruises are a growth area with solid potential for retail travel agents.

For their part, travel agents who sell music cruises report solid success with a product that delivers high repeat rates and brings in new customers as well.

What it’s all about
Operated by cruise lines, specialty companies and travel agents, music theme cruises have come a long way from their early incarnation – largely jazz cruises that catered to an older crowd.

Today’s music cruises attract fans of everything from classical jazz to Kid Rock, bluegrass and big band swing.

Some cruises highlight a single performer, while others are organized as a music festival at sea, with a string of headline acts playing to a ship full of people who share musical interests.

Many music cruises also offer activities such as trivia contests, competitions, theme nights and discussions.

Sixthman & Norwegian Cruise
One of the biggest specialty operators is Atlanta-based Sixthman, which began operating music cruises in 2001 and was acquired by Norwegian Cruise Line in early 2012.

Since its founding, Sixthman has offered 67 cruises, nearly all of them full charters, with 12 more cruises scheduled for this fall and spring 2015.

Sixthman boasts an overall 55% return rate and pays travel agents a 10% commission on the cabin fare.

The company has hosted the likes of Kiss, Kid Rock. Lynyrd Skynrd, Alabama and Florida-Georgia Line. But by far its most popular cruise is Cayamo, a festival at sea that includes a wide range of singer songwriters.

Travel agent Brian Connor of Cruise Holidays of Lawrence Park in Toronto, Canada, sells music cruises, and he’s a regular on the Cayamo cruise.

“I’ve never seen a repeat factor that’s higher than Cayamo. It’s like-minded people who like good music and who like to see a variety of music,” Connor told Travel Market Report.

River cruise offerings
River cruise lines operate in this sphere as well, offering an experience tailored to the audience.

Among them is Avalon Waterways, which offers a jazz cruise through Provence that includes a jazz festival, as well as a music cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest.

“We thought we’d take one of our longer itineraries – 14 nights – organize a series of music experiences and try it. It turned out to be a very popular cruise,” said managing director Patrick Clark.

Next year Avalon will be adding an opera theme cruise that sails the Danube from Budapest to Prague. The experience will include four up-and-coming Canadian opera stars who will perform onboard and discuss how to break into opera.
 
On U.S. waterways
Closer to home, American Queen Steamboat Co. operates a variety of music theme cruises – among them a popular Elvis cruise that draws repeat cruisers year after year.

“There’s a die-hard group of Elvis fans who plan their vacations around the cruise,” said entertainment director Tony Nevitt.

And American Queen keeps expanding its offering, with recent additions including a nine-day “Country & Blues” cruise that begins with a hotel stay in Nashville.

On the new Bourbon & Bluegrass cruise, offered this August and September for the first time, guests hear bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent, sip bourbon and can participate in guitar and banjo workshops for beginning bluegrass musicians.

Specialty company
Entertainment Cruise Productions (ECP) is a company that exists for the sole purpose of operating music cruises themed around jazz, rock and roll, soul and country.

In its 15 years of existence the company has done 52 full-ship charters, 49 of them on Holland America ships.

Each of ECP’s cruises appeals to a different demographic and age group.

“The jazz cruise attracts people from 32 different countries, mainly couples in their late 50s and 60s. Smooth jazz cruise is a bit younger and more of a U.S. phenomenon with more of a racial mix,” said executive director Michael Lazaroff.

“Soul Train is almost entirely urban. Country not as many city dwellers as the others. Malt Shop draws strongly from the northeastern U.S.”

Brings in new clients
Travel agency owner Brenda Fairfax of Nomadic Star Travel in Greenville, N.C., has sampled all the ECP music cruises.

She blocks group space on the cruises and travels along with her clients. Her groups typically range in size from 20 to 40 passengers, most booked into balcony or verandah cabins.

The music cruises have helped Nomadic Star Travel attract new clients. “I posted it on social media this year – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Pinterest – and I’ve gained at least 16 to 20 new clients in different states,” said Fairfax, whose agency is affiliated with Vacation.com.

A music lover, Fairfax talks up the cruises whenever she can. She invites people over to her home for information sessions and always play smooth jazz whenever anyone visits.

She’ll ask people if they like music, and if they do, she’ll pull out her phone to show them a picture of one of the cruises she went on, often alongside a famous performer.

Next time: Tips for selling music cruises.