Wondering how to attract clients who don’t ‘do’ cruises? Cruise lines recommend emphasising the exotic destinations that ships visit and the exciting excursions on offer to reel them in.
Lynn Narraway, Holland America Line’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, recommends retailers search their databases for clients who take long-haul, land-based holidays and suggest other places to visit, whetting their appetite by highlighting the destinations rather than the cruise.
“If you have a client who has been to Australia, say, suggest a holiday in South America,” she says. “Tell them about the many places they can visit and what they can do, and once they are interested tell them, ‘By the way, it’s on a cruise’.
“I’m not saying disguise the fact it’s a cruise. But I advise selling the destination first and only once the client is interested, explain the benefits of going on a cruise: seeing lots of places, not having to pack and unpack, and, in the case of Holland America, having a five-star floating hotel with food and accommodation included in the price.”
Narraway says agents can use the same tactics to persuade clients who have cruised in the Mediterranean to try somewhere more exotic. But she emphasises the need for retailers to improve their knowledge of destinations and the exciting excursions on the market.
Princess Cruises passengers, for example, can take part in a mock yacht race on the America’s Cup course around St Maarten. The line’s head of brand marketing, Pieter van der Schee, also says the chance to go bear or whale-watching in Alaska, visit the Falkland Islands or see the Amazon are trips that people want to experience in comfort.
“We are talking about older people with money who don’t want to drag a bag around with them,” he says.
“But when agents are asked for suggestions, most will probably recommend a coach tour, oblivious to the fact that a cruise is the best way to do these things.
“Over the past 10 years, more agents have understood what cruising offers, but plenty are not aware, so we still have a training job to do to improve their knowledge of all the places cruise ships go.”
All Leisure Group, which owns Swan Hellenic, Voyages of Discovery and Hebridean Island Cruises, sells mainly to clients interested in cultural and educational experiences rather than people who love to cruise. It runs an online training programme that focuses on destinations and their key highlights.
Sales and marketing director Geoff Lawrence says: “There is an opportunity for agents to sell our cruises to clients looking to visit unusual places because we are
all about getting off the beaten track and staying longer or overnight in destinations.”
Lawrence says Voyages of Discovery’s White Sea and Archangel cruise this year, accompanied by a guest speaker who will talk about the Second World War convoys, has been hugely popular; likewise a Swan itinerary that visits the remote St Kilda in Scotland and spends four days in Iceland.
Azamara Club Cruises made destinations the cornerstone of last year’s relaunch, coming up with the slogan “You’ll love where we take you”, and scheduling in more late night and overnight stays in port and evening excursions so passengers can get a real feel for the places being visited.
Michael English, Azamara’s head of sales for the UK and Ireland, says the new strategy offers agents a chance to sell to clients who want to “get under the skin” of a destination. Many are featured on new video guides that give agents an overview of the itineraries that they can pass on to their customers.
English says: “Azamara Club Cruises’ small ships can access destinations such as Galle in Sri Lanka and Bruges in Belgium that are off the regular cruise map. As ‘destination experts’, we ensure there is a reason to be in a port on a particular day, for instance Rio for Carnival and Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix.”
Monte Carlo Grand Prix
Fun excursions
Photo safari by land and sea, Alaska
Combines a walk with a naturalist photography guide at the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau with a two-hour cruise in Stephen’s Passage in a boat custom-built for marine wildlife photography.
- Offered by: Crystal Cruises on its Alaska summer sailings.
- Cost: $192 for five hours.
Boat adventure in Geiranger fjord, Norway
Don wind and waterproof suits before boarding a rigid inflatable boat for a thrilling ride around the fjord, getting up close to waterfalls and learning about the history of the area. Minimum age 13.
- Offered by: Celebrity Cruises on Norwegian fjord itineraries.
- Cost: £62 for 90 minutes.
Evening at St Mark’s Basilica, Venice
A once-in-a-lifetime private tour of St Mark’s, which was built as a tomb for St Mark in 828 and later served as the Doge’s private chapel.
- Offered by: Voyages to Antiquity on Med cruises starting or ending in Venice.
- Cost: Two-hour tour included in the cruise price.
Learn how to make pasta on a foodie day out in the Tuscan countryside. Includes a visit to a herb garden and wine cellar. Minimum age 18.
- Offered by: Disney Cruise Line’s summer 2011 Med itineraries.
- Cost: $395 for seven hours.
Sell the excursions
Excursions are one of several tools that cruise lines suggest agents use to persuade first-timers to try a holiday at sea.
All cruise lines offer standard city tours, but most also operate a diverse selection of fun excursions to appeal to passengers who are tempted to cruise only by the adventurous places they can visit and things they can do.
Princess Cruises, for instance, offers whale-watching and rainforest treks in Maui in Hawaii, Holland America visits a penguin reserve in Punta Arenas in Chile and Seabourn visits the River Kwai in Thailand.
On its Baltic cruises, Crystal has an excursion to a cosmonaut training facility in St Petersburg, while P&O Cruises has helicopter rides over Hong Kong and Monte Carlo, and excursions to see baby turtles released into the wild in Acapulco, Mexico.
Several cruise lines offer a selection of exclusive excursions that cost more but appeal to passengers who hate big-group coach trips.
Lynn Narraway, Holland America Line’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, said: “Agents should use excursions as a way to attract first-timers. We all offer so many fun tours these days; I’m sure many people don’t realise what they can do.”
Passengers generally pay extra for excursions, but discovery-style brands Swan Hellenic and Voyages to Antiquity include them in their cruise prices, as do luxury lines Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Hebridean Island Cruises.
