The Cruise Ship programme showed lots of people with whom you really would not want to spend much time on holiday, says Miles Morgan, managing director of Miles Morgan Travel
If I have another meeting with a cruise line or go to a conference that talks about the “new-to-cruise” market being the panacea, I think I might scream!
I believe everyone – from David Dingle, chief executive at Carnival, to a trainee at Thomas Cook in the Outer Hebrides – knows the aim of all cruise lines is to achieve this.
PR, of course, is very important in attracting people for whom a cruise has not been on their radar.
The Cruise Ship
I therefore sat down with great interest to watch The Cruise Ship on ITV last Friday. The Hi-de-Hi music and comedy narration set the tone. The ship looked stunning and attractive – but sadly, for me, that’s where it ended. If anything, the half-hour show would have discouraged new passengers.
These days I work at the customer end of our business, often attending our client events and talking directly with both cruisers and potential cruisers.
One of the barriers for new-to-cruise is the perception that the ships are full of the old blue-rinse brigade – sadly, this programme only reinforced this false belief. It also showed lots of people with whom you really would not want to spend much time – TV just loves extremes and characters.
At the other end of the cruise spectrum are the short-duration cruises. It would seem logical for a potential new-to-cruise client not to risk a seven or 14-night cruise but to first sample a shorter one.
But any agent worth their salt would stop this happening by explaining the different clients that these cruises attract. Those booking direct online, or with a poor agent, might not receive this crucial piece of advice and consequently return home with a skewed view of cruising.
Supporting this view is an email I received via one of our shops last month. We had booked one of these short-duration cruises and advised the customer what they might experience – but even he was surprised. Our client, 94-year-old Charlie (good on him!), had a number of interesting experiences, as his email testifies.
He wrote: “As we were waiting for a lift on the ship to arrive, as the door opened, one of the females, with her back to us, lifted her skirt and exposed a thong that had disappeared!”
Agents are the key
Amusing, maybe. But the above tales show how two chances to influence and attract the new-to-cruise market backfired badly.
The key to attracting first‑timers is the high street agent. They interact with thousands of potential customers every day and can suggest, influence and book this hard-to‑find beast. So why does this not happen more?
The bottom line is earnings. If you can book a ground-based holiday at 10-15% commission, why suggest a product that pays less?
At 5% there is not much for me to pay my staff in extra bonuses. But when the likes of P&O move that to 7.5%, and currently 13.5%, everything becomes possible.
I urge cruise lines to spend a bit less on direct marketing and a bit more on the high street – then that extra capacity might just sell.