What Every Travel Advisor Should Know About Selling World Cruises

Travel advisors love selling trips that pay commissions with commas and World Cruises definitely fit that definition. Yet, for many cruise-selling travel advisors, the idea of selling a World Cruise feels as far away as hitting all six numbers in Powerball.

For advisors that have never sold a World Cruise but want to or those who feel intimidated by the thought of even suggesting a World Cruise to a client, Travel Market Report reached out to advisors who are already doing it to find out what their best advice is.

Don’t Let Intimidation Win

The idea of selling a World Cruise can be intimidating for some travel advisors. From the cost of a full World Cruise to the numerable logistics that go into helping a client plan one to not knowing where to find a World Cruise client, there are a number of factors that can feel overwhelming.

“Some people get uncomfortable when they talk about large numbers,” explained Scott Kertes, owner of Vacations by Design, who also goes by the designation “Captain of the ship.”

“That’s what a World Cruise is. It’s an expensive proposition, and you have to be comfortable discussing those types of finances with people.”

For other advisors, it’s a lack of knowledge that stops them from selling World Cruises.

“We all would love to have perfect knowledge about everything before we do anything. That’s a perfect world. But if we waited for perfect knowledge on everything, then not much would happen,” said Theresa Graham, vice president of retail sales and co-owner of TravelPerks, a Dream Vacations franchise.

Regardless of the reason advisors might feel intimidated, Kertes has one simple piece of advice: “Get over it. Think about the money you make.”

Coming at it from a financial perspective, Kertes said there’s really no need to worry. People who might be interested in a World Cruise already have an idea of what it’s going to cost.

“It’s not like you are going to be giving them sticker shock,” he said.

On the other hand, if it’s the lack of knowledge that’s intimidating, take some time to get familiar with the different products, Graham advised.

Learn about the difference between a full World Cruise and segments, or between latitudinal and longitudinal itineraries.

“Knowing the product helps to sell it,” said Gayle Harlan, a travel advisor at Carson Travel.

Finding World Cruise Clients

Finding World Cruise clients can start with something as simple as telling your clients you book World Cruises.

“Let your customers know that this is a service that you provide,” Kertes said. If you’re familiar with World Cruises, let them know that you understand the products and the intricacies of booking a full round-the-world cruise, he added.

“You might find that there are people out there that are in the market for it and don’t even know it yet. You kind of put the idea in their head.”

It doesn’t have to be even that complicated.

“Add ‘World Cruise’ to a signature block or to a marketing email,” said Graham. “That’s easy.”

However, being proactive about selling World Cruises shouldn’t stop at telling clients that you can book them.

When the situation is right, don’t be afraid to suggest it.

“As with anything else, if you’re just sitting there waiting for something to fall out of the sky, then shame on you. You’ve got to go get it,” Kertes said.

“There’s always an opportunity to suggest it,” said Graham. “But like everything we do, it’s always going to be client-focused on what their needs are.”

“If you have a client that travels a good deal and is trying to mark off a bucket list, then it [a World Cruise] may make perfect sense as a means of getting all of their bucket list resolved right away,” she added.

Similarly, if you have clients that have been testing out month-long cruises, suggesting a World Cruise can be a natural extension of what they’re already doing.

Start “Smaller”

If the thought of going straight into suggesting a 150-day World Cruise remains intimidating – or you don’t already have clients that are doing month-long (or longer) cruises, advisors can start building towards the future by working to extend their current clients’ sailings.

If you have a client that has done two-week cruises (and has the time or ability to be away for longer), suggest a 30-day grand voyage.

“It’s a good toe dipper to suggest at least a 30-night sailing,” Graham said.

If a client has only done one-week cruises but is driven by seeing new destinations, try and get them to take a two-week cruise. Over time, these clients might be willing to try longer and longer cruises, eventually culminating in a World Cruise.

More on the World Cruise Client

Traditionally, World Cruise prospects have been easy to identify – retired, well-traveled, affluent.  While these characteristics remains valid, there are other “green flags” to look for within your client database.

First of all, they have to be past cruisers, particularly clients who cruise a lot or have expressed how much they like cruising and maybe wish they could do more of it.

Second, they want to get the most out of their time when they’re traveling.

“Somebody who is looking to see everything they want to see and want to do it in one fell swoop,” Graham explained.

Third, while a World Cruiser can be motivated by value, they’re not driven by pricing.

“If somebody always wants to do an inside cabin and they want the cheapest, that’s not the World Cruise person,” Harlan said.

One aspect of the traditional World Cruiser that Kertes said advisors should be wary of is age.

“Historically, a World Cruise was generally reserved for people who were wealthy and retired and had all the time in the world… but all of that is out the window now.”

Younger travelers who own or work in Internet-based businesses and professions can be targets for a World Cruise, he said.

“You could be on a World Cruise and conducting your business and nobody would even know where you are and you wouldn’t skip a beat. As a result, the demographic has widened a lot.”

All three advisors TMR spoke with said it ultimately comes down to qualifying your clients, just like you would with anything.

“I listen to what people tell me in terms of where they might like to visit, trying to determine what a person’s level of commitment is to being home, or if they’re more of a free spirit and have more free time on their hands. If they’re an experienced traveler and are looking for places that are more exotic and far off and sort of a bucket list type of experience, those are signs,” Kertes said.

Choosing the Right World Cruise

Deciding which World Cruise is the right one for a client is sometimes decided by something as easy as brand loyalty. A client who has only ever cruised Viking or only ever cruised Princess, might only be interested in that cruise line’s World Cruise.

For other clients, there are three primary considerations: price, itinerary, and onboard experience.

Pricing can also include inclusions. What do cruisers get as perks when they commit to a full World Cruise? Are multiple excursions included? Laundry? Wi-Fi? Specialty dining credits? If they’re not included, are your clients okay without them? Or if they’re going to pay for those extras, does it drive up the cost to be closer to a more inclusive cruise line?

Most important, all three advisors agreed, is the itinerary, because not all World Cruises are actually round-the-world voyages. While most are latitudinal (meaning they go around the world in a mostly horizontal direction), some are longitudinal (also called pole-to-pole). Some focus most heavily on one or two continents with only a handful of stops (if any) in the others.

“Some World Cruises go north, some go south, some actually aren’t full circumnavigations. Some might be a plethora of repeat ports that a person has already been to numerous times,” Kertes explained.

Graham told TMR she’s actually pulled out a map and traced the itineraries with her clients to make it easy for them to visualize where a World Cruise is – and isn’t – going. Once again, she said, it’s important to understand what your client is looking for specifically, so you can match the itinerary with what they want to do.

A third consideration advisors and clients should discuss is the onboard atmosphere. Are there plenty of specialty restaurants or only a couple of options? Is there nightly entertainment or the occasional activity? Is the onboard atmosphere staid and quiet or lively? Knowing the answers to these questions can be important as well.

“I certainly wouldn’t put somebody who sails with Regent on a Princess World Cruise,” Graham told TMR. “I don’t want anyone calling me 20 days in.”

Planning Is Part of the Process

When TMR spoke with Harlan, she first had this to say about selling World Cruises: “The sales part is easy. It’s the rest that’s difficult.”

As all good travel advisors know, an advisor’s role in helping their clients plan the best vacations doesn’t always end with the sale. The more complicated the trip, the more important the advisor’s role is in helping clients make the most of their travel.

That’s especially true for World Cruises, Harlan said. From ensuring clients have the right visas (most cruise lines will also help with this) to reminding clients to make sure they’ve got enough medications or that they need to stop their mail or pre-pay taxes, advisors with World Cruise clients have to stay on top of a lot.

Harlan doesn’t only focus on what needs to be done ahead of time. She also prepares everything her clients need while onboard, organizing it all in a three-ring binder that’s tabbed for easy navigation. Inside are copies of all the visas her clients need, all the shore excursions that were pre-purchased or included, plus more.

“You’ve got to think ahead, what’s going to make everything easiest for the customer?”

One More Reason to Sell World Cruises

In talking to the three advisors that we did, TMR was struck by one fact. Each had at least one World Cruise client who has done more than one World Cruise. Though a World Cruise might be a once-in-a-lifetime Bucket List item for some, for others, it’s something they’re happy to repeat.

At a minimum, many World Cruisers will choose to do a longitudinal sailing after having done the more standard latitudinal. Others want a new itinerary that focuses on a part of the world that their original World Cruise skipped over.

Kertes told TMR he has “a nice audience” of clients who repeat every year. Best of all? They book it themselves onboard because the experience sells itself. Even if they don’t book another full World Cruise, they might decided to book different segments year after year.

In other words, identifying potential World Cruisers among your clientele, marketing or suggesting World Cruises to them, and then selling them their first World Cruise could lead to annuity-like commissions (with commas) year after year.