Friends With Benefits?

Now that I have your attention…………

The strap line to this blog is apt, but unfortunately for those of you with filthy minds, its not what you think, so read on.

My inspiration this week came from two of my very best clients. Two of the biggest cruise junkies you are ever likely to come across!

They cruise at least 5 to 6 times a year, primarily with Royal Caribbean, but more recently with their sister lines; Azamara Club Cruises, and of course, Celebrity Cruises – my personal favourite.

Unfortunately due to circumstance, they are having to cancel a trip they were looking forward to recently sailing around Australia and New Zealand, a great shame – but usually when I hear the word cancellation, alarm bells go off and my sales head wakes up, you see what most lines offer, providing you do it within enough time, is offer a switch option, whereby you can switch the cruise within the same brand, to another sailing without having to lose your deposit.

This option gives both the customer something to look forward to in their moment of disappointment, whilst also benefiting the cruise line, knowing that the customer will still ultimately travel on their ship at some point. It also gives the agent, i.e me, the chance to flex those suggestive selling muscles, and hopefully get the client onto something even better than before! So it’s a win win all round.

Or so you would think……..

Yes in the majority of cases this switch option is excellent, however, there is one catch with the cruise lines conditions, and to be honest, in business terms it’s an obvious one: The cruise must be of the equivalent value or greater.

In short, if your cruise costs £5000, the cruise you move to must be the same or more, so they don’t lose revenue.

So if you have lost your job, or your financial future is uncertain, you’ve had it, may as well cancel it and lose the deposit in the cruise lines eyes.

Swivel! I say to them!

Why so harsh against the cruise lines you might ask? It’s obvious that they don’t want to lose money……..and you are right….. but here comes the bombshell that many people in the UK don’t know……….

If this same situation arises for our colonial cousins in the USA or Canada, they can literally change their mind and reclaim their deposit or move/cancel free of charge without penalties! So much more freedom to do what you want.

I this fair? I think not!

So why do they have different rules?

The obvious suggestion is the market share. The US market dwarfs the UK & European market, which is understandable when you have the Caribbean on your doorstep. Even the European program has a huge amount of US and Canadian passengers coming this way to explore Europe. Many more than go the other way.

Population of course is the factor here. But surely we still contribute massively to the overall profit of the cruise lines?

I remember starting in the industry years ago. Most people wouldn’t have even considered a cruise, whereas now it seems to be on everyone’s lips!

So my question this week is this:

Should the rules be the same? Should we have that same flexibility with our deposits? If not why not? Do you think it’s fair?

The floor is yours………….

Thanks for reading my blog as ever & I look forward to your opinions, and as always, until next time……………..