Another Seminar At Sea

As I say in my training course for travel agents, one of the greatest things about the travel industry is the abundance of free and low-cost continuing education opportunities offered by suppliers.

An excellent example of the latter (low-cost opportunities, that is) was the seminar at sea I just completed with Royal Caribbean aboard the magnificent Explorer of the Seas. Ably facilitated by Regional Training Specialist Mark Stoneham (pictured above), the series of seminars during sea days walked about 25 travel agents through an informative series of sessions on everything from the RCI fleet (including the yet-to-be-launched "Genesis class" ships), to the exciting menu of Cruisetours offered in connection with Alaska sailings, to the line's 2008 deployment plans, to an in-depth discussion on selling to groups, and much more.

For me, it was time well spent. And I don't think it's any knock on Mark to say that, as is so often the case in these settings, the best part was the networking and chatting among one's fellow agents. I learned as much from the comments and observations and dinner-time chit chat of my colleagues as I did from the formal sessions.

I was also struck by the generosity of my fellow home-based agents. It is gratifying to see how willing and indeed eager they are to help others with problems they might be having with a particular booking situation or just to share their experience and expertise with newcomers. I made some good friends on this voyage and I'm sure everyone there would say the same.

So if you are new to being a home-based travel agent, I would urge you to seek out these learning opportunities. I give a number of suggestions in the course. Another option is to join a professional association like OSSN, which sponsors a regular schedule of seminars on cruise ships. (The RCI seminar was not one of them.)

Just a few of the many things I learned:

• Three-night cruises are great for first-timers, but can be problematical for New Englanders because of the flight to Florida.

• The Sovereign of the Seas is a great choice for clients interested in a 4-night cruise.

• Travel agents should enroll everyone they book on a cruise in the cruise line's loyalty program.

• The satisfaction rate of first-time cruisers is 95%. (No wonder so many home-based travel agents decide cruises are the way to go!)

The best moment in the seminars came when we were discussing the forthcoming Genesis class ships. Since that project is all very hush-hush, Mark had no inside info to share with us. But to get the discussion going, he asked us, "What would you like to see on the Genesis class that you've never seen on a cruise ship?"

One agent answered without hesitation, "Denzel Washington!"

And so to bed . . .