July 2015 CLIA UK & Ireland Informer Share your summer #MyCLIA Welcome to July! Taking you through the latest upgrades! Adele s Events Update Come join us in person! CLIA Cruise Daily Content Online This Month Cruise Toolbox Latest Resources added to the website This Month s Cruise News Update By Augustus Lonsdale of CLIA UK & Ireland Welcome to a new era for CLIA as we finally unveil our new website at cruiseexperts.org. We have completely re-worked the navigation, split our content into three distinct areas, and added some new areas and new features so that you really do get all of the learning, resources and events in one place. More importantly the site is now mobile and tablet compatible so you can check back wherever you are and whenever you want on whatever device is easier for you. As always we value your feedback and thoughts use brightideas@cruising.org to share your thoughts on the new site and indeed on any aspect of your membership. Meanwhile we have a whole new set of exciting events coming up to make it even easier to get the ideas and inspiration you need to grow your cruise sales. Special Guest Columnist Sam Ballard, Cruise Adviser Andy Harmer CLIA UK & Ireland, Director
Welcome to a new era for cruiseexperts.org Our brand new mobile and tablet compatible website has been completely re-designed to give you the content that you need all in one place. So what is new? CLIA CRUISE DAILY This is the place where you can keep up to date with everything that is happening in the cruise industry and at CLIA. Updated throughout the day this area features news updates, special guest opinion, cruise Top Ten s, and news from the web. Our Sales Guides are written just for you and feature in-depth features to give you the background information that keeps you in the know; and our CLIA Cruise Daily is also where you should go to sign-up to all of the cruise events, ship visits and special offers available to CLIA members. CRUISE TOOLBOX Our Cruise Toolbox is the place that you will find all of the unique resources we have in place to help you sell more cruise. Our fantastic cruise search has been created to help you find the right itinerary, and is supported by our Brochure Bank with every ocean and river cruise brochure currently available, our Meet the Fleet with details of every single CLIA ship, and our unique Destination Zones where you can get the low down on some of the most popular destinations available (and why not leave your comments on these cruise places too). Looking for a cruise line contact? We have them all in the Toolbox, as do we have our unique Cruise Factsheets to help you find the right cruise for your customer. LEARNING ACADEMY A unique learning environment packed full with the best training available for cruise sellers, and the place to work towards your accredited status. Uniquely accredited by City & Guilds, our Learning Academy is where you can work your way through our formal modules covering everything from cruise sales techniques, to industry trends, cruise destinations and much much more. This is also the place where you can access our Resources Centre packed full of statistics, reports and background information; plus work your way up to CLIA accreditation and get the recognition you deserve! Give us your feedback! What would you like to see on cruiseexperts.org? How can we improve the site for you? Send us your ideas to brightideas@cruising.org Share your cruise photos and videos with us on Twitter #MyCLIA
Adele s Events Coming in 2015 LAST CALL Tuesday 7 July RIVER CRUISE MASTERCLASS, LONDON Closing for registrations soon FREE to CLIA Travel Agent Members Sunday 26 & Monday 27 July LUXURY CRUISE EXPO, DOVER Last few places available 35 for CLIA Travel Agent Members NOW BOOKING Tuesday 28 July CLIA SUMMER PARTY In Association with The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday & Travel Weekly A new event for 2015, this special Summer Party in London includes networking with CLIA members, food and drink and the special presentations by Travel Weekly of awards for winners of their Cool Cruises survey TICKETS AVAILABLE AT 40 + VAT Tuesday 15 Sept CLIA NEW TO CRUISE SUMMIT In Association with Puerto Rico Tourism A new event for 2015 are you new or fairly new to selling cruise holidays and need some inspiration, ideas and techniques to help you grow? Then spend the day with CLIA and special guests and join us! FREE to CLIA Member Travel Agents Tickets available at 20 for Non-Member agents Thursday 17 Sept RIVER CRUISE SHOWCASE MANCHESTER This is a special evening where we bring together some of the finest river cruise operators at one event so you can keep up with this rapidly growing sector FREE to CLIA Member Travel Agents Sunday 22 - Monday 23 November RIVER CRUISE CONVENTION, AMSTERDAM The ultimate river cruise event, and a unique event in the world join us in Amsterdam for 2 days and see 7 ships, attend conference and networking events, stay overnight onboard a river ship... and all created with you in mind! Tickets available at 60 + VAT
Alex s Online Update WEBINARS this July Sign up online at cruiseexperts.org via the Webinar Library Thurs 9 July - 9.30am Small enough to reach out-of-the-way ports, yet large enough to make light work of crossing the great oceans, Voyager avoids the excesses of today s mega-liners. Accommodating just 540 like-minded passengers, the atmosphere on board is friendly and relaxed. We pride ourselves on our excellent Guest Speaker programme which features historians, explorers, naturalists and diplomats. All meals, on-board gratuities and service charges, plus port and pre-paid airport taxes are included along with flights and overseas transfers. Weds 15th July - 9.30am Silversea s loyal following of adventure travellers can now explore the remote archipelagos of the vast Pacific aboard the sleek, 120-guest Silver Discoverer cruise ship. She s the perfect platform for viewing these untamed landscapes, with all ocean-view suites and plenty of deck space so that a breaching whale or a pod of dolphins is always within sight. GUIDED TOURS Weds 22nd July - 9.30am & RIVER CRUISES A luxury river cruise with APT is the most relaxing and stylish way to discover the delights along the world s greatest waterways. Marvel at the ever-changing scenery as you enjoy exceptional dining, fine wines and stylish surroundings onboard some of the most beautiful river ships afloat. On shore you ll enjoy carefully-crafted excursions led by expert local guides who will bring the history, heritage and culture of each destination to life. With over 85 years experience and 98% satisfaction rating, APT understand what makes a truly memorable holiday. OPINION PIECES this July We have been busy signing up a whole host of guest contributors so that we can bring you a selection of guest opinions that will offer insights and background information on all aspects of cruise holidays, sales and business. Our Opinions are updated throughout the month, we have a full back archive, and offer you the chance to comment too! Do you agree with our guest contributors? Head to CLIA Cruise Daily to find out... SALES GUIDES this July We have been working hard this year to add even more invaluable resources to our website to give you access to not just world-class training, but also resources that will help you sell more cruises. Our Sales Guides are magazine style content exclusively written for CLIA members that takes you through river cruising, cruise destinations and cruise holidays. Our Sales Guides are updated monthly, and are archived for your viewing pleasure! Luxury Cruises Cruise Apps! THIS MONTH Frequent Flyer Clubs
Destination Guides Our Cruising Destination of the Month in July is East Asia. Each month we publish a brand new destination or region of the month so that by the end of the year we will have built up an incredible portfolio of destination maps and information, port guides, video and photography plus every month we add a downloadable Destination Guide that you can download and save to your desktop or print. Last month we focused on Northern Lights destinations. Our destination Guides are in the Members Area within the Cruise Toolbox. New Fact Sheets To equip you with some handy reference tools, CLIA UK & Ireland have put together a series of unique factsheets so that you have to hand some useful tools to be able to assist your customers more easily. You can download them, print them or simply keep checking back to our website. Recently, we have focussed on key cruising regions, looking at the key embarkation ports and which cruise lines serve them. Having this information to hand is a great help we hope, so have a read: Recently Added: Iceland Departures Australasia Cruises Panama Canal Transits Ocean Ship Refurbishments Alaska Departures
Share your cruise images & opinion with us! Get yourself onto the CLIA Pinboard at cruiseexperts.org and share your cruise experiences, ship visit, shop window or colleagues simply post on Twitter including #MyClia
This Month s Cruise News Update by CLIA s Augustus Lonsdale June has been an exciting month for Cruise News as it was announced we will witness the birth of the first new ocean cruise line in over 5 years next year. Using P&O s Adonia, fathom will pioneer Social Impact travel, cruising between Miami and the Dominican Republic to work with disadvantaged communities and give travellers the chance to give back and connect with the lives of others. One of the most interesting elements of fathom s initial marketing has been the insistence that the voyage is a completely unique experience that just happens to be on a ship. Sailings begin following a refit for Adonia, which will honour sailings with P&O until early 2016. Alongside fathom s launch Carnival Corp. had other exciting new for us this month. With 9 ships confirmed on order, Carnival Corp. announced that 4 of those vessels would be built by Meyer-Werft and would feature the pioneering LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) technology which has been used to great and green effect on a number of ferries in the Baltic. However, fathom wasn t the only new cruise line to surface this month as we also saw the announcements of the first three ships which will be launched by Virgin Cruises. The announcement of 3 110,000 tonne ships in 2020, 2021 and 2022 was accompanied by the promise to revolutionise the industry as well as a new website asking the world what they wanted to see on the vessels. The first ship will join fathom in homeporting in Miami, the location of their glitzy announcement. Azamara announced a complete refit for both Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest which will be finished by mid-2016 and will see no area of the ship left untouched according to CEO Larry Pimentel. And finally, a little smaller, but no less important, European Waterways announced their latest barge Finesse will undertake a new itinerary on the French waterways in Burgundy, while Emerald Waterways presented their new itinteraries on the Mekong using the chartered vessel Mekong Discoverer. We were also happy to see two new companies taking up TV advertising as a way to expose their brand to the wider world, with both MSC Cruises & Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines airing adverts on mainstream UK television. There were also interesting developments within the Fly-Cruise Market as Princess Cruises announced a specific platform Plane Sailing to help the trade make booking flights alongside cruises a seamless process for agents, while Celebrity Cruises announced a new private jet charter service out of Stansted for a selection of Celebrity Equinox sailings next year. Keep up to date with all of the latest news and opinion at cruiseexperts.org Augustus
Special Guest Columnist Sam Ballard, Cruise Adviser The industry needs new to cruise agents too BOOKING NOW Free to CLIA Members The recent news that CLIA UK & Ireland is to hold a New to Cruise Summit is an announcement that should be applauded. If the industry is going to reach anywhere near its full potential then the cruise lines must harbour the UK s dedicated network of travel agents. I was told recently that around 70 per cent of all cruises sold in Britain are through the trade. Yet when you take out the cruise specialists and high street stores cruise champions, the numbers suddenly don t look so hot. What happens when a potential booking comes through your door and your one cruise expert isn t there? I can tell you, because I ve tried. First of all you get a rabbit in the headlights look from the poor agent who has been unfortunate enough to approach you. The prospect of selling a holiday on the water is not only daunting to them but baffling too. From suite categories, itineraries and times of year to the individual cruise lines themselves. What is the difference between Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line when all you have to go on is the cover of a brochure that you have never opened? In my own experience they will either confess to not knowing enough about the industry and ask you to wait for their colleague or, even worse, they will make something up on the spot. I ve spoken to high street agents who have told me that Royal Caribbean only sails to the Caribbean. Another favourite is being recommended Marco Polo Cruises. However, they were adamant that they didn t sell Cruise & Maritime Voyages. To read the full article, head online to and head to the CLIA Cruise Daily Sam Ballard is co-publisher of