Any occasion can be a great reason to sell more cruises

One of the best ways to sell a cruise is to give the potential customer a great reason to take one. What better reason could there be than to celebrate an important occasion? And, in fact, CLIA’s member lines host a tremendous number of birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, honeymoons and family reunions. But they also host more unusual or innovative celebrations, and the key for cruise sellers is to be aware of the possibilities in your local communities and among your loyal clients. Who knows what dreams or ideas someone, or some group, may have for a very special celebration? It’s your job to find out and then make it happen by convincing these clients that cruising and celebrations make the perfect match.

CLIA-member lines have some great examples of this idea. When a couple decided to renew their wedding vows by saying “I do again” on every continent on the globe, Hurtigruten’s Fram, specially built for adventure cruising in some of the world’s most remote and wild destinations, made it happen on a promontory above Paradise Harbor in Antarctica, one of the coldest, windiest places on earth.

Marriage was also the theme on Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 this year, when 15 World War II war brides from Canada and the United States, along with their family members, sailed to England to celebrate the 65th anniversary of when most of them first sailed in the other direction, to America to join their servicemen husbands. Many had first sailed during the war on the Cunarders that, together, carried more than 2 million servicemen and families between 1939 and 1945, including the original Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Aquitania, Mauretania and other ships.

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The fact is, love, in one form or another, is always a good thing to celebrate, and a good way to sell cruises. Crystal Cruises tells the story of college sweethearts who had lost one another and then rekindled the flame after a chance encounter—one widowed, the other divorced—on the Crystal Serenity 35 years later. They felt so strongly that a shipboard wedding was the only way to declare their love that they brought their own clergy along to perform the ceremony.

In that case it was a small wedding party, but don’t overlook the possibilities of selling a big celebration at sea. SeaDream Yacht Club’s two mega-yachts, SeaDream I and SeaDream II, for example, are frequently fully chartered by groups of up to 102 guests for destination weddings, birthdays and other important occasions. Some of CLIA’s biggest ships have hosted weddings and other events for groups of over 200.

Birthdays are another opportunity to put together a sizable celebration. It was literally “All in the Family” when Norman Lear, producer of that and many other legendary TV shows, sailed on Crystal Cruises with four generations of children and grandchildren to celebrate one of his milestones. Another grandfather celebrated at sea by allowing each grandchild to determine one night’s dinner menu; with luck, the culinary tastes of the youngsters stretched beyond chicken fingers. And, Windstar Cruises sent word that a guest celebrating a 70th birthday did so by chartering the entire yacht for a voyage in the Caribbean, complete with different theme parties every night and even special shore excursions.

While happy occasions tend to dominate seagoing celebrations, don’t overlook more serious themes or events, because they, too, might inspire someone to take a cruise. Holland America Line and many other lines have frequently hosted individuals or groups of war veterans going back to a revisit momentous part of their lives by sailing to such places as the South Pacific, Vietnam or the Normandy beaches of France. But, the most poignant example of a shipboard celebration, if you can call it that, comes again from Cunard Line when a daughter’s last wish, to have her ashes scattered at sea, was fulfilled by her mother and family on the Atlantic Ocean. After the ceremony, a special party was held to celebrate, in elegant style, the person they loved so much.

As you probably already know, the very nature of shipboard life is particularly suited to celebrations. The convenience of having a comfortable home away from home, plus nonstop personalized service, outstanding dining, a broad choice in recreational activities and entertainment, and the excitement of visiting new destinations, sometimes every day, mean that nobody works and everybody plays. There’s something of interest to do for every guest, regardless of age, and plenty of opportunity to share experiences as well. Plus, the cruise lines generally offer special reduced rates for groups.

So, this is your challenge: To seek out couples, families, extended families and groups of all descriptions and match their next celebration with a cruise. The possibilities are endless.

For more information: visit www.cruising.org and www.cruise3sixty.com.