The second National Cruise Week will be bigger and better than last year because of the amazing deals on offer, said Passenger Shipping Association (PSA) director Bill Gibbons.
Cruise week starts this weekend, September 20, and runs until September 27. Among offers is a 50% discount off a SeaDream Yacht Club Caribbean cruises departing November 21 if booked next week and up to £1,000 per person off Viking River Cruises’ Imperial Jewels of China voyage on the Yangtze. . Costa Cruises is offering clients who book a cruise next week £300 of on-board credit.
National Cruise Week was launched last year by Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) as a way to focus consumer and trade attention on cruising. There are no statistics to determine how many additional cruises were sold that week.
Gibbons said National Cruise Week is an ideal time for agents to work on dispelling the myth that persists about cruising; many people still believe it is an expensive holiday and for the older market. “National Cruise Week offers an excellent opportunity for agents to increase sales by engaging with customers and talking cruise – for those who are already cruise savvy and, more importantly, those who are new to cruise.
“There are some amazing offers and incentives offered by cruiselines, and now is the time for agents to sell the exceptional value of a cruise holiday,” Gibbons said.
Almost 1.5 million Brits took a cruise last year, up 11% on 2007, according to the PSA’s annual cruise review. One in every 12 package holiday booked in 2008 was a cruise, up from one in 26 in 1999.
Details of offers are listed on the ACE website at www.cruiseexperts.org.
Tell us your plans for National Cruise Week by going to the Travel Weekly Cruise Club.