Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - (Page 50)

CRUISES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 48 that it actually improved the response rates in the mail,” said Conroy. Maza then asked Oceania’s Rodriguez if the cruise line could become more flexible in allowing agents to secure group space on the line’s ships. “Your DSMs have been very aggressive in encouraging our members to secure group space, but then it is pulled back very quickly if it isn’t sold right away. Do you see a change going forward?” asked Maza. “I do see a significant change coming up,” responded Rodriguez, “especially when we introduce the new ship, we’ll have much more space to offer. When we launched Oceania Cruises just five short years ago, we did not have a group program. We recently instituted a group program a few years ago, and we’re getting better at it. I think over the past year, some LEFT: Bill Smith, SVP sales and marketing, Crystal Cruises, pointed out the importance of family travel and for cruise lines to have activities and amenities ready to entertain children RIGHT: Mark Conroy, president, Regent Seven Seas, addressed the issue of the agent-cruise line relationship members will probably have noticed that we opened up our space a little better. We’re getting better at figuring out which groups are actually going to be berthed and which ones are not.” The question addressed to Silversea’s Conroy was what the cruise line was doing with onboard initiatives to “ensure that it is at the very top of the ultra-luxury category.” “We are constantly training and retraining,” Conroy replied, noting that a firm had been hired earlier this year to do onboard training and that all of the vessels’ service levels have been standardized. “We are religiously tracking the results. If we get any comments that aren’t as favorable as we’d like, we get hold of the guest and rectify it if there is a problem. And our scores now are in the 90 percentile.” Maza asked Uniworld’s Young about the very competitive river cruise market. “We seem to be hearing about a new river cruise ship every 20 minutes on the hour,” he joked. “So how can we, as travel professionals, differentiate all the ships?” Young agreed that the “capacity for river cruising has actually doubled in the last five years, so I think that speaks to the quality of the product and how well it’s being received by the consumers.” For that reason, he said, Uniworld is trying to position itself at the top end of the market by totally refurbishing its ships, a project begun in 2005. “We’ve also tried to address service issues. We have more than 20 employees who oversee the entire service part of the delivery for Uniworld,” he said. Signature’s Maza asked Cruise West’s Wertanzl about his cruise line’s positioning in the market now that the company has changed the management of its sales approach. “We are really a destination-cruise company first and foremost,” Wertanzl said, noting that a trademark of Cruise West is its effort to stay off the beaten path of the larger cruise ships, which in turn provides guests with an intimate experience when they’re in port. “As for what makes us different in the expedition segment, we have our Zodiacs, which make a big difference when we go up close and personal with the great destinations like Galapagos or the South Pacific. When you look at our product, it’s like an ocean safari. When you’re on a bigger ship, you may be in the casino, but you miss the whale.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 52 50 | TravelAgent November 24, 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - November 24, 2008

Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 Reality Check On the Web Contents Advertising Index Contributors From the Editor From the Publisher Europe Pacific/Asia Las Vegas Mexico Caribbean Cruises Cover Story: 30 Under 30 Leaders in Luxury Hotels Agenda Luxury Travel Expo Hurricane Temporarily Shutters Nevis Four Seasons Agents, Cruise Lines Adapt to Economy A New Link to Adventure Travel In the Spotlight Editorial Index Advertising Index

Travel Agent - November 24, 2008

Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - (Page CW1) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - (Page CW2) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 (Page Cover1) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 (Page Cover2) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 (Page 1) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 (Page 2) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 (Page 3) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Reality Check (Page 4) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Reality Check (Page 5) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - On the Web (Page 6) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - On the Web (Page 7) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Contents (Page 8) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page 9) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page 10) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page 11) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Contributors (Page 12) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Contributors (Page 13) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 14) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Editor (Page 15) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 16) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 17) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 18) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 19) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 20) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 21) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 22) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - From the Publisher (Page 23) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 24) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 25) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 26) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 27) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 28) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Europe (Page 29) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 30) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 31) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 32) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Pacific/Asia (Page 33) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 34) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 35) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 36) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Las Vegas (Page 37) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Mexico (Page 38) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Mexico (Page 39) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Mexico (Page 40) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Mexico (Page 41) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Mexico (Page 42) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 43) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 44) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 45) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 46) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Caribbean (Page 47) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 48) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 49) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 50) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 51) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 52) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cruises (Page 53) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 54) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 55) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 56) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 57) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 58) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 59) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 60) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 61) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 62) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 63) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 64) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 65) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 66) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Cover Story: 30 Under 30 (Page 67) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 68) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 69) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 70) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 71) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 72) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 73) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 74) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 75) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 76) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Leaders in Luxury (Page 77) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 78) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 79) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 80) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 81) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 82) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hotels (Page 83) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Agenda (Page 84) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Agenda (Page 85) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Luxury Travel Expo (Page 86) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Luxury Travel Expo (Page 87) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hurricane Temporarily Shutters Nevis Four Seasons (Page 88) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Hurricane Temporarily Shutters Nevis Four Seasons (Page 89) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Agents, Cruise Lines Adapt to Economy (Page 90) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Agents, Cruise Lines Adapt to Economy (Page 91) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - A New Link to Adventure Travel (Page 92) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - A New Link to Adventure Travel (Page 93) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - In the Spotlight (Page 94) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - In the Spotlight (Page 95) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page 96) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Editorial Index (Page 97) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page 98) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page CW3) Travel Agent - November 24, 2008 - Advertising Index (Page CW4) 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