“It’s so great to be back in person—learning and networking,” said Brad Anderson, co-founder, Avoya Travel, as he attended last week’s Cruise360, the annual trade conference of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) at The Diplomat in Hollywood, FL. “Everyone attending is so enthusiastic and committed to excellence.”
Offering his opening session remarks virtually, Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises and global chairman of CLIA, stressed how impressed he was that cruise lines, city mayors, port authorities, cruise terminal operators, ship agents, tourism authorities and professional travel advisors had worked as a team to get the cruise industry moving again.
“When we band together and use the collective strength of our voices, we can generate positive change," Vago stressed. It had been 501 days since the global cruise industry’s suspension of cruise operations during the pandemic, so trade executives were eager to hear the latest.
After Cruise360’s opening Session, Michelle Fee, co-founder and CEO, Cruise Planners, told Travel Agent that she felt the session was full of insightful information from Kelly Craighead, CLIA’s president and CEO. As a result, “we’re feeling hopeful for the future and happy to learn that 50 percent of ships belonging to partners who are a part of CLIA will be sailing by the end of the summer," said Fee.
Jackie Friedman, president and CEO, Nexion, said sentiments of cruise line executives and professional travel advisors that she observed during Cruise 360 were certainly hopeful. One reason is that "nearly 32 percent of global cruise ships are back in the water,” Friedman said, with 150 ships expected to be sailing as fall begins.
Another trend that's positive is rising consumer demand. “CLIA surveys indicate that 82 percent of past cruisers are ready to cruise again over the next three years,” Friedman told Travel Agent.
Thanks to Advisors
“With industry-leading protocols in place guiding the resumption of operations in Europe and Asia, and with the growing availability of vaccines, it was you and your voices that successfully made the case for cruise resumption in the United States,” Craighead told the travel advisors attending Cruise360.
She was referring to CLIA’s "Ready, Set, Sail" initiative that engaged the wider cruise community—many travel advisors—to call on Congress and the White House to issue instructions needed for the cruise lines to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Conditional Sail Order that's in place until November 1.
Noting that CLIA met its stated goal of working with the CDC to support the responsible resumption of U.S. cruise operations by July, Craighead also told the advisors that obstacles remain. So, she called on them to continue to use their voices as advocates for the industry.
“The industry’s reputation has been challenged like never before," Craighead stressed. "We must do a better job correcting the record and telling the positive story of cruise including our investments in environmental sustainability which totaled $23.5 billion last year."
Championing the "power of our collective voice," Craighead urged advisors to help build on the momentum. In listening to Cruise360's discussions about travel advisors, cruise lines and other industries supporting the cruise industry as part of a larger “cruise community," Friedman advocated. "We all need to do everything we can to restore our industry’s reputation and restore the positive story of cruise."
Friedman mentioned that CLIA will provide media training and assets to help advisors communicate with customers, lawmakers and mainstream media in that communications effort.
Restoring the “In-Person” Event
“It was definitely exhilarating reuniting with so many of my industry colleagues and friends after more than a year of no 'in-person' events,” said David Crooks, senior vice president of product and operations for World Travel Holdings, parent company of Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., as well as other travel industry brands.
Crooks was impressed in seeing so many travel advisors, executives and senior leaders coming from across North America to attend Cruise360 so that they could connect and continue learning and educating themselves. "The sold-out event was representative of the industry’s continued resiliency and passion," he said.
Also back as part of the "in person" conference format were Cruise360's ship inspections for advisors at Florida ports. The goal is to provide advisors with first-hand knowledge about cruise products that they market and sell to consumers.
aboard Carnival's Mardi Gras.
During one ship inspection, Theresa Scalzitti, chief sales officer, Cruise Planners, joined Fee in hopping aboard a BOLT roller-coaster car on Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship, the LNG-powered Mardi Gras.
“The ship was beyond beautiful,” Fee said. Beyond the thrill of BOLT, she told Travel Agent that when guests board, they’ll see that that Mardi Gras' atrium has a full-size theatre offering continual entertainment throughout the day and night.
“It was as if Carnival moved the main theatre and plopped it into the atrium," Fee added.
She also said guests have views from all levels, “so, they can either hang out in one of the stadium seats, or just ‘mosey by’ to check out an act or two.” In addition, “there’s a huge LED screen, which will allow them to change the theme, and I’m told that each theater will have its own performers.”
New ships create marketplace excitement and often spur clients to book, so "hopefully, this will bring positive light back to the cruise industry,” Fee noted.
Mardi Gras, the first LNG-powered ship sailing from a U.S. home port at Port Canaveral, FL, is one example of the cruise industry’s progress toward greater environmental sustainability.
Transitioning to Recovery
“While there are still some challenges ahead as we build back this wonderful business, there is general consensus that we are on a path to a return to normalcy in 2022,” Crooks believes. He said the large-scale, well-attended, in-person Cruise360 is "another positive step to building our industry back.”
For many, Cruise360 symbolized the transition from "what was" to "what is going to be." According to Friedman, Kelly predicts that, optimistically, it will be 2023 before the industry is restored to what it was and that success depends on our ability to get the word out." The top priority is to support the resumption of cruising, start to build back.
Cruise360 was a “total confidence-builder,” Anderson believes. “The restart of cruising is getting stronger and rapidly gaining momentum.” Important in that, Anderson said is that the cruise lines have committed to providing not only an exceptional vacation experience but a safe and secure one too.
From Fee’s perspective, there’s still a “long way to go before we are back to normal, but it felt good to finally be back in a room with hundreds of colleagues, advisors and supplier partners. It shows the resilience of our industry.”
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