CruiseWorld opened on Wednesday with a keynote speech from new Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald, as well as cruise giveaways from Carnival Corp. brands, a panel discussion about the career paths of travel executives and multiple breakout sessions.
Donald directly addressed the audience of travel agents during his speech.
"I've spent these last few months listening," he said. "To our guests. And to agents, like you. and to our employ
ees. And to those with great cruise experiences, and those who said they will never cruise, or those who will never cruise again.
"And what I've come to know is this: Our industry, even though we've sailed through some rough waters together, has so much going right, and so much opportunity."
His speech was direct, humble and at times funny. He called himself a "cruise exec rookie" and joked that his wife "may not be a travel professional, but is a professional traveler."
He concluded with a line from the Carlos Santana/Rob Thomas song "Smooth," which was playing when he walked onto the stage: "Make it real, or else forget about it," he said. "At Carnival, we intend to do just that."
Donald also sat for a question and answer session with Editor in Chief Arnie Weissmann, and later invited several of his top sales executives to the stage to give away several cruises to audience members.
He was followed by a panel of top sales and marketing executives who discussed, among other topics, how they got into the travel business and why: Ken Muskat of MSC Cruises, Mark Kammerer of Holland America Line, Andy Stuart of Norwegian Cruise Line, Dondra Ritzenthaler of Celebrity Cruises, Vicki Freed of Royal Caribbean International and Joni Rein of Carnival Cruise Lines, plus Chris Austin of Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
CruiseWorld continues Thursday with a keynote speech from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain and a four-hour trade show, among other events. The conference concludes Friday with additional sessions and a keynote from Norwegian Cruise Line chief Kevin Sheehan.
The Wednesday general session opened with Carolyn Cauceglia, vice president of strategic sales commercial business development for Amadeus North America. Michelle Fee, the CEO of Cruise Planners, closed the session with a speech on 10 Commandments for travel sellers, including "thou shall travel."
Earlier in the day, attendees packed the room for a session on expanding their travel careers with cruise bookings, which was led by Nexion President Jackie Friedman and featured a panel of Freed, Ritzenthaler and Stuart, plus travel sellers Kate Murphy of Wings Travel Group and Cindy Campbell of Campbell Travel. The panel urged audience members to qualify, know the product and then create memories, not just book cruises.
"What are you doing?" said Friedman rhetorically. "Booking a trip? Or trying to develop a customer for life."
For more on CruiseWorld, watch for our Show Bulletin later today.