Three travel professionals discuss their recent cruise sale successes

Alexander Loizou, director of sales and marketing, Mundy Cruising

“Since the announcement of a vaccine we’ve seen consumer confidence come back and a notable increase in business, with bookings last week up 137% on the same week last year, and weighted towards new bookings rather than rebooks.

“The majority of clients have been confirming travel in the second half of 2021 and early 2022, and some have even been booking for 2023.

“This is across a range of destinations, the most popular [regions] being northern Europe and the Mediterranean, but the likes of North America, the Caribbean and Indian Ocean have also appealed.

“The majority of bookings are coming from past clients rather than new to cruise, although we imagine that will change when people see the amount of time cruise lines have put into making their ships as safe as possible.

“When it comes to marketing, we’ve had to be even more creative this year, keeping our clients engaged, interested and inspired during difficult times.

“This has involved producing more content-led marketing than ever and shifting focus to digital. The results have been fantastic, with our email open rates peaking at 47% and web traffic for our sister site Mundy Adventures up 101% year-on-year. Despite the pandemic people are continuing to plan once-in-a-lifetime trips on expedition small ships and we expect that side of the market to recover very quickly.

“Getting back onto the water will be a highlight – so much happened last year that we weren’t able to see.

“We’re excited for Tradewinds’ new sailing ship Golden Horizon, which will come to the UK this year. We’re also desperate to see Silversea Silver Origin and Silver Moon. We’re also waiting to see Windstar’s Sea Breeze, which is back after being [refurbished and] stretched.

“My hopes for the future are that the cruise industry improves, and we’re seeing signs of that with the embarkation process getting even easier. We’re seeing an advancement in technology that will make things more convenient, with QR codes, apps and digital muster drills to aid social distancing.

“We saw such growth in cruise in the last few years. I believe we’re experiencing a temporary blip and that growth will then continue as cruising grows in popularity. There’s such a variety in new product suiting everyone’s tastes that it will continue to appeal to more and more people.”

Amy Wright, cruising specialist and marketing executive, Cruise Select

“We’re noticing positive change since the vaccine news, with an increased focus on late 2021 and 2022, and a recent spate of fresh new enquiries rather than rebooks.

“Europe and closer-to-home cruises are doing well. We’ve also had an Alaska enquiry.

“We have a cruise show every October at a local hotel. It’s always successful and a key date in our diary, and clients look forward it. We decided to do a virtual festival this year in November, with lots of presentations from cruise lines over three days, as well as panels and interviews.

“We first sent the invitation out to clients who attended our last two cruise shows – we wanted them to feel special – and then we put it out to our entire database. It got a good uptake, with over 100 sign-ups. The content is now all on YouTube and so far we’ve had over 700 views and more than 100 hours watched on there.

“I’m pleased with how it went – we’ve had enquiries and a few bookings off the back of it already. We also got some lovely comments from clients saying they miss cruising, and that they’re not quite ready to book yet but will be in touch when they are.

“We advertised the virtual cruise festival on Facebook, which resulted in new clients being introduced to us, and even an enquiry.

“We can’t wait to get back to the seas. I don’t think we’ll see a return to 2019 levels of bookings this year with suspensions being continued.

“Once we’re in a situation where clients don’t have to worry about their cruise being cancelled, they’ll be really appreciative of meeting people and making memories again – and cruising will be more intoxicating than before.”

Phil Nuttall, managing director, The Travel Village Group

“While there’s still nervousness around early 2021, we’re seeing bookings for late 2021, as well as 2022 and 2023. The message is getting through that cruising is probably one of the safest forms of travel and that once the vaccination is in place we’ll get back to some sense of normality from summer 2021 onwards, with extra protocols in place, of course.”

“I think we’re going to have a great Wave period – there’s so much frustration and pent-up demand. This year is bound to be popular for ex-UK sailings too.

“Our marketing messaging has been about trust and highlighting flexibility. Now, agents should be moving towards pushing summer 2021 due to the vaccine news and putting a confident message out there so consumers can trust the industry.

“Cruise lines have always been innovative and found ways of making cruising safer for passengers. I’m extremely confident that cruise will soon go from strength to strength, with more people choosing to do so than ever before off the back of what the cruise lines have done to help and reassure customers.”