Industry experts tell agents to get to know their clients. Find out birthdays and anniversaries, they say, and get them to tell you what’s on their bucket list of places to go and things to do.
Turns out that agents should ask their clients another question: What kinds of music do you like?
There’s a multitude of music cruises available, everything from blues and jazz to country and rock. Clients can be booked into a group that would have access to music performances, or they can sail aboard a full-ship music charter.
Irish Music Cruises, for example, is marketing a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise aboard Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam Jan. 29, 2012. The Wolfe Tones and the Makem Brothers are among the performers.
Rock fans might be interested in the Kiss Kruise: Wet, Wild, & Rockin', sponsored by Sixthman. It’s happening aboard the Carnival Destiny’s five-day cruise to the Bahamas Oct. 13.
Organizers of music cruises have different policies about travel agent bookings. Their websites typically explain the booking procedure, or provide an email address or phone number for agent information. For example, some might not pay commission but will instead offer referral payments.
Sometimes there’s an agent involved in the behind-the-scenes planning. That’s the case with a Beatles Tribute Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas’ seven-night sailing from Fort Lauderdale Feb. 4, 2012.
This cruise is set to coincide with the 48th anniversary of the Beatles’ first U.S. TV appearance on Ed Sullivan’s show in 1964.
The organizer is Angela DeDomenico, who owns a Cruise Planners franchise in Boca Raton, Fla. She promises an “all-star cast of entertainers and musicians” including Laurence Juber, who was lead guitarist with Paul McCartney and Wings.
DeDomenico is committed to the music and specialty cruise niche in a big way. In addition to her cruise franchise, she owns Music in M’Ocean Events, which she described as an affinity travel company specializing in theme-based cruises.
“It’s not just a music cruise niche,” she said, adding that her company also organizes corporate, cultural and specialty training events.
Launching Music in M’Ocean Events last year, she said, represented “the perfect opportunity to advance into event planning, to sculpt a land-based convention-style event to the sea.”
Music in M’Ocean handles the logistics of the activities, such as booking the special guests or musicians, while her Cruise Planners franchise works with the cruise lines to reserve staterooms and onboard venues.