ONBOARD THE CRYSTAL SERENITY -- Bill Smith, senior vice president of sales for Crystal Cruises, had just gotten started on a morning presentation to a roomful of top retailers when he loosened his tie and reknotted it around his head like a bandanna.
As the music in the Crystal Serenity's Hollywood Theater was cranked up high, he shouted: "We're going to get up and dance!"
And sure enough, he bounded off the stage to boogie in the aisles for a few minutes with Crystal's top-producing travel agents, who were gathered in the theater -- and who by that point were out of their seats, laughing and dancing.
Crystal always makes the annual Gala Cruise a big event with its top producers, who need to book $750,000 in sales the previous year to qualify. Nineteen of the agents on the cruise came from agencies that booked more than $2 million with Crystal in 2008.
As much as 2008 was a success story, 2009 is a different animal altogether.
Smith put the retailers in a lighthearted mood by keeping them laughing at some outlandish antics like the dancing. ("OK, we're all smiling," he said as he returned to the stage. "That's good. Keep doing that.") But that didn't mean the line's executives weren't focused on making the best of a rough 2009. The luxury market is in a tight spot as customers compare mailings and offers, trade down and pull back on the number of vacations they take.
And competition in the luxury cruise market is fierce.
During the three-day session, executives spent a lot of time talking about Crystal's competitive response to the marketplace: It's giving customers an onboard credit of $1,000 per person ($500 for cruises of seven days or less), on top of its 2009 Celebration Fares (to be called Anniversary Fares once the line hits the 20th anniversary of its first cruise, in 2010) and a price-protection guarantee.
Smith noted at the beginning of the seminar that the line had seen a lot of booking churn. But he added that even if bookings weren't sticking, it meant that upscale cruisers were out there and thinking about cruising -- they just needed a nudge from their travel professional to commit to the trip.
"The good news is, there's interest," he said.
During the meetings, the line's top brass used the phrase "permission to travel" or "permission to cruise" several times -- in other words, that clients need to be reassured that it's OK to take a vacation in the current economic climate. Smith told the agents here that it was important that they provide prospective clients with a reason why they should feel comfortable booking a cruise.
Crystal President Gregg Michel also reminded the sellers that "we still have a lot of cruises to sell. ... So don't forget about 2009.
"They're waiting to book," he said. "Everyone's delaying purchases. I do it, I think we all do it. But people want to spend. We have to get the psychology turned around."