Silversea Cruises’ SVP, Global Sales Carol Cabezas on How Travel Advisors Can Level Up Their Luxury Sales

Coming back to Royal Caribbean Group after two years away was both familiar and different for Carol Cabezas, who, other than a two-year gap between 2023 and 2025, has spent the greater part of her 20-plus years in the cruise industry at Royal Caribbean Group or one of its brands.

She returned to the Group in October 2025 as senior vice president of global sales at Silversea Cruises after having previously led Azamara Cruises for six years, first as chief operating officer and later as president. She also spent six years at Celebrity Cruises and six at the corporate level.

“There were certain aspects about the culture that had changed in that there is a lot of collaboration happening across the brands,” she said, referring to what Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean Group’s president and CEO, calls “the enterprise mindset.”

It’s a change Cabezas welcomes.

“I engage with my counterparts in international sales on every aspect of the business. There is a lot of communication happening that is extremely helpful. It only strengthens the brands to have that kind of collaboration,” she told TMR.

TMR caught up with Cabezas as last month’s CLIA Cruise360 conference in Fort Lauderdale to talk about why travel advisors are critical to luxury (and expedition) cruise lines and what advisors can do to level up their luxury sales, including asking cruise lines, “what have you got for me?”

The Role Travel Advisors Play

“Advisors play a vital role in the case of this sort of product, where you have some added complexity,” she told TMR, speaking more of Silversea’s expedition product. “When you think about expedition, that is a pretty complex product. You have many steps and changes that can happen that are dependent on forces well outside of your control.”

Ultimately, she said, what advisors do for their clients is set expectations, something that’s important for both Silversea’s expedition and classic products.

“An advisor can play such a big role in supporting a customer and understanding what to expect… Everything is about setting expectations appropriately. When expectations have been appropriately set, they [guests] have a much better experience because they knew what was coming.”

She added that it’s very clear on site, when a guest has been briefed by their advisor ahead of time, particularly for expedition cruises that involve things like extra flights and special transfers (in the cases of Antarctica and the Galapagos).

The One Question Advisors Should Be Asking Cruise Lines

After working at multiple cruise line brands in the premium and luxury segments, we wondered: what can travel advisors do to get more out of their cruise line partnerships?

“Our team finds great tools to support the trade. It’s an investment. It’s not free for us, but we want to equip our advisors with the most authentic type of presentation of the product that’s easy for them.”

Tools include such options as co-branded websites and done-for-you social media posts, as well as an easily consumable training program that she called “very Netflix-like.”

“I think its new advisors or maybe advisors who are new to selling this segment of cruise – I don’t know that they always stop to ask, ‘What resources can I use? What do you already have for me?’”

Some advisors might not even realize that there’s someone within the cruise line’s sales team that’s there to help them.

“We have somebody to represent any advisor who needs a little bit of handholding through the process,” she said. “We have people dedicated to that kind of white glove service through the experience of onboarding to work with Silversea.”

Her number one piece of advice? Reach out to Silversea and ask: “What tools do you have for me?”

Don’t Overlook These Potential Silversea Clients

TMR talked with Cabezas about finding new-to-Silversea clients and where advisors might be overlooking opportunities.

“I’ve spoken with advisors who are successful in selling Silversea and what they they’ll say is the hardest one was the first booking because they just assumed that they don’t have the right client for it. That they don’t have people who would be willing to make that kind of investment in themselves…”

Most advisors look for the client that they think will book a luxury cruise year after year, but they forget about those who might be willing to stretch their vacation budget for a special occasion.

“If it was a bucket list for you, you might be willing to stretch… Or are you celebrating a milestone, something that you’d really want to splurge on,” Cabezas said. “Advisors could easily ask about what sort of life events are happening that might lead them to influence a client to take that leap.”

One group she thinks advisors overlook too frequently is honeymooners.

“Don’t ever count our honeymooners. Yes, maybe they’re a younger demographic, but this might be their once-in-a-lifetime trip…”

Alaska & Expedition Cruising as Gateway Drug

Circling back to bucket list trips, an Alaska cruise falls into that category for many first-time cruisers.

“When you think about what people are wanting to achieve with this sort of vacation, Alaska achieves so much of that. It’s like expedition,” she said. “It’s almost like your gateway drug to Silversea – Alaska or any of the expeditions.”

Cabezas proudly pointed out that Nicole Kidman became a cruise convert after her Silversea fly cruise to Antarctica early this year. She’s since booked two more cruises with the brand.

Speaking of Alaska, Cabezas told TMR that the destination “has been incredibly strong” for 2026, adding “I don’t think you can find spots” at this point.

Other itineraries doing well for Silversea are the Antarctica fly cruise and Kimberley Australia itineraries.

“It’s still a little early yet for Japan, but it’s looking like it’s getting a lot of interest even though it’s a brand-new product for us… it is doing quite well.”

A Silversea Antarctic Differentiator

When TMR asked Cabezas how travel advisors should position Silversea Cruises differently than other luxury lines, she turned to Antarctica for a real-world example.

“It’s the most comprehensive,” she said, explaining that what she means by that is the end-to-end experience.

In Antarctica, specifically fly cruises, the end-to-end experience includes The Cormorant at 55 South, a Silversea-built hotel opening October 2026, and Silversea aircraft flying from a private terminal.

“The team has thought of every aspect of the experience from start to finish and has looked at how it gets elevated over time so that the whole thing becomes a luxury experience… They’re going on a Silversea plane. It’s not just any plane that gets chartered with small flimsy seats and doesn’t have a galley… No, it has a galley. You get a warm meal.”

You don’t see that with other brands, she emphasized.