Selling Sailings: Tips from Cruise Line Executives to Travel Professionals

The very best cruise agents are experts at connecting with customers, differentiating themselves from other agents, and emphasizing the value and relative safety of cruising over any other type of travel, said a panel of cruise line executives at the New York Times Travel Show this weekend.  
 
With so many cruise specialists in the world, you have to do something extra to stand out, to “be the one they come to,” said Michelle Homoky of Celebrity Cruises. Take your specialization as cruise sellers a step further and become an agent who sells a specific kind of cruise, she suggested.  

And when debating what kind of cruise seller you want to be, why not choose the one that that brings the biggest commission checks? “If I were starting an agency and I wanted to really differentiate myself, I would be a suite specialist,” she said. “It’s the most profitable sailing you’re going to get.”  

Only 20% of North Americans have ever taken a cruise, which leaves a lot of opportunity out there for agents, the panel agreed. With clients who have never cruised and are reluctant to take to the seas, showing them just how safe and easy it can be might be all the convincing they need.  
 
“If you have clients who have never sailed or are looking for a unique experience, traveling overseas on a cruise ship is really the most secure or safest way,” said Royal Caribbean’s Lisa Falango.  
 
For first-timers to Europe, for example, cruising lets guests visit cities that speak different languages and use different currency, yet come home to familiar foods and English-speaking staff and neighbors in the evening.  

“There’s no language barriers, there’s no currency discrepancies…it’s really easy,” she said.  
 
Todd Hamilton of Norwegian Cruise Line suggested that while many agents are intimidated by social media, it’s just a tool to promote yourself.  Look at Twitter and Facebook as free ways to broadcast your value.  
 
“Don’t sell on social media; all you have to do is promote,” he said. “Get your clients to give you pictures and then say, ‘Look at these amazing pictures, I put these clients on this vacation.’ ”  
 
And remember to follow up with every cruise customer. But do it carefully.  

Instead of asking, “How was your cruise?” ask “What was the best part of the cruise?” That makes clients relive that special moment in their minds and “brings out all the possible memories,” he said.