When it came to confirming a £313,000 round-the-world sailing, The Cruise Line’s Jess Garwood knew Silversea would give her all the support she needed, with the cruise specialist landing the record-breaking booking after a month’s work. “We’re lucky to have some good clients and some nice bookings but that just blew it out of the water. Everyone’s over the moon,” she says. 

Jess’s cruise customer wanted something extra special for their 70th birthday. They wanted to see South America but were particular about flight times. A Silversea round-the-world cruise proved a great match, but the client’s preferred suite class was waitlisted. Account manager Donatella Valzasina saved the day, as Jess explains: “She managed to get a suite cleared that was in a great location. There were also questions about shore excursions, but she helped us get it across the line. Donatella is just amazing. She’ll help us whenever and wherever she can.”

The Cruise Line is a Silversea top seller with many regular customers taking back-to-back or even triple back-to-back cruises. Service is the clincher, Jess explains. “One of my clients tried another line and she came back and said: ‘It just wasn’t Silversea. We love their home away from home feel. Another main point for selling Silversea is the ships are small; they can go into smaller ports of call.”

MORE: Get more top tips to help you sell Silversea in the TTG Expedition Cruise Selling Guide.

Jess adds that she finds Silversea’s contact centre “fantastic” for queries. One of her more unusual requests involved a good client insisting on a particular brand of sausages. The Silversea team managed to get the bangers onboard free of charge.

The line’s online resources, meanwhile, prove invaluable for pre- and post-sales, says Jess. “My Silversea is a great tool to have. You can go in and do training courses to refresh your memory... it’s great to get your knowledge up to date. They’ve also got a Marketing Central page in there that has things like photos and videos, right down to deck plans, brochures and fact sheets; really quick and easy things you can pick up if you’re struggling to think if a ship has a particular restaurant onboard or where certain suites are.”

The My Silversea marketing collateral extends to Rallio, a tool which automatically posts social media content, and the line’s team can also help agencies with events. It recently joined The Cruise Line on its stand at the Destinations travel show.

Jess even finds My Silversea streamlines her administration. “It’s really easy to go and make clients’ reservations for them, whether that’s dining, shore excursions or spa treatments. Not a lot of lines give you the luxury to do that yourself.”