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Cruises Cater to Landlubbers’
Interests
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Cruise industry
finds marketing gold in specialty cruises.
By C.B. Adams
Imagine cruising along the Italian coastline, docking at exciting
ports, and enjoying the amenities aboard one of Crystal Cruise’s
luxury ships, while also taking in lectures and presentations from
experts in the field of personal finance and investments. This is
no seven seas dream. It was a cruise enjoyed by hundreds of passengers
who booked such a trip in May.
As the cruise industry has dramatically expanded during the past
decade, so has competition for bookings. With three or more new
ships being introduced per year, cruise lines have sought ways to
distinguish their itineraries. One of the most successful ways they
have done this is theme cruises.
“The cruise industry is a cutthroat business right now. The theme
cruises are good, because they are offering something that is not
in direct competition with the other cruise lines. Theme cruises
are an excellent source of business because they give you a definite
place to market,” says Anita Berry, president of Traveline Ltd.
And she should know. Her firm found a niche in the cruise realm
20 years ago and has been catering to cruise travelers who love
jazz music ever since. Until two years ago, Berry booked passengers
aboard jazz-theme cruises offered by the Norwegian Cruise line.
When the line dropped all theme cruises, Berry began chartering
her own ships from the Holland America Cruise Line. Dubbed “The
Jazz Cruise,” Berry booked 1,260 passengers seven months before
the one-week cruise set sail.
“It sold out so quickly that we have chartered a ship for two weeks
back to back this year in November. The jazz theme cruise is just
the best thing because we get people together who have like interests.
And they don’t just go for one year. They keep coming back. I know
some passengers who have booked the cruise every year for the past
15 years,” she says.
The week-long cruise offers more than 200 hours of live jazz music
from more than 60 top jazz performers, including the Count Basie
Orchestra, Mary Stallings and Her Trio, Shelly Berg, and Ernie Adams.
Passengers also enjoy jazz videos in their rooms 24 hours a day
and mini-midnight buffets at the music venues, so they won’t miss
a note. They can even bring their own instruments and perform in
a passenger’s jam session.
“We market our jazz theme cruise everywhere. We have an extremely
large mailing list we have accumulated during the past 20 years.
We also promote it to jazz societies all over the world and to jazz
magazines. Last year, more than 600 people signed up for this year’s
cruise. A theme cruise makes for a very friendly cruise. People
make friendships that last for years and years with others from
all over the country,” Berry says.
But there is more to cruising than jazz. In recent years, nearly
all cruise lines have begun to offer theme cruises that appeal to
defined segments of cruise travelers. Some theme cruises are fairly
broad in their scope, such as photography, wine and culinary, history
and culture. Others are highly unique, such as the “SpyCruise” aboard
the Regal Empress through the Bahamas. Passengers receive seven
days of 007-type intrigue, hosted by former intelligence officers
from the CIA, FBI and the KGB. Carnival is offering racing fans
the opportunity to book a trip with NASCAR racer Rusty Wallace—complete
with race theme activities and parties hosted by Wallace.
Maritz Travel Company has been putting its own spin on theme cruises
for more than 10 years. Maritz develops approximately 50 incentive
cruises each year for a wide variety of clients.
“The ships in recent years have evolved. There are more ships, and
they have become bigger and bigger and offer more activities. We
have more choices now in both the mass market and the luxury market.
Before, there was only a handful of liners. Now, with more competition,
they are getting more flexible and looking for more group and incentive
business than they were eight or nine years ago,” says Trish Adams,
director of product services for Maritz Travel Company.
Incentive cruises typically have a theme that relates to the company
itself or to the products or services it offers. In the spring,
Maritz developed a charter cruise that went back and forth through
the Panama Canal for five weeks. During the cruise, the company
held business meetings with different groups as part of the daily
activities.
“When we have a charter, we have the run of the ship and can do
whatever we like, including the design of the itinerary,” Adams
says. “We can hang the company flag on the ship, bring in special
entertainers, and design an activity like a scavenger hunt and make
it relate to whatever business the client is in. We can even put
the company logo at the bottom of the pool.”
Not all clients have enough passengers or budget for a chartered
cruise. For these clients, Maritz designs a program that still makes
their passengers feel like members of a select group.
“We do whatever we can to make it special. We take their theme and
develop it throughout our program. We begin with something simple,
like putting their logo on cocktail napkins or putting the company
name outside their rooms. In the dining room, we can provide menus
with the company’s name on them and reserved tables. We can also
provide personalized gifts that reflect the part of the world they
are traveling in. And we can design special events, both on and
off ship, such as cocktail parties or a beach Olympics,” Adams says.
Adams says she is limited only by the capabilities of the ships
themselves— and the capabilities are growing. Royal Caribbean recently
launched its new Voyager Class ship that can accommodate more than
3,000 passengers. The ship features an indoor ice skating rink that
converts into an exhibition space.
“On some of the larger ships, if we had a client who wanted to bring
in cars to do product showings for dealerships, we could open up
the cargo hold and bring in the cars. Those kinds of capabilities
are going to continue to increase as ships of all sizes become more
sophisticated and willing to adapt to the needs of business and
incentive travel,” Adams says.
C.B. Adams is a St. Louis-based writer, communications consultant,
and adjunct faculty member at University of Missouri – St. Louis.
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