FORT LAUDERDALE — Hundreds of cruise agents who had gathered for CLIA's annual Cruise360 conference here were hailed as dream vendors by the CEO of the biggest company in their industry, Carnival Corp.'s Arnold Donald.
In a keynote address, Donald did a smooth dance with CLIA CEO Cindy D'Aoust and allowed his staff to make fun of him by posting a picture taken in Antarctica of Donald dressed in a tuxedo.
"For a minute, I was looking good as a penguin," Donald said.
On a more serious note, Donald said that travel agents have a vital role to play in making people happy.
"This is an industry built on dreams," Donald said. "No one has to take a cruise." He ticked off some common dreams of romance, bringing family closer together and escaping the ordinary, concluding, "It's our job to make those dreams come true. It's not about technology; it's about people. That's why your role is so important. You have to discover what the client's dreams are."
A panel of four cruise brand presidents took the stage after Donald in a discussion that was dominated by technology questions.
Asked to supply a word that comes to mind for their brand when they hear the term "innovative," Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said "listen," while Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO Andy Stuart said "racetrack."
Duffy tied her response to Carnival's "Agentpalooza" sales-team bus tour of six southern cities upcoming in May. "It really is all about exceeding guest expectations and your expectations as travel partners, and our first step is to listen," Duffy said. "That's how we get our best ideas."
Stuart said that the Ferrari-branded go-kart track atop Norwegian's latest ship, the Norwegian Joy, is part of an attempt to get people to imagine themselves on a cruise.
"An unexpected view of a racetrack is something that's going to have people scratching their heads and wondering, how could that be on a ship?" Stuart said. "I do think it's a fantastic way to get the story of cruising out there in an unusual way."
Asked which social media platform works best to promote cruising, all four brand presidents settled on Facebook.
"All of them work very well, but Facebook is where most people go to talk about their vacation," said Roberto Fusaro, president of MSC Cruises USA.
Azamara Club Cruises president Larry Pimentel said, "While Facebook is No. 1, Instagram is also effective."
Duffy said it depends on your customer.
"My kids are in their late 20s, and they're not on Facebook anymore," she said. "Facebook's passe, and now they use Snapchat."
Earlier in the day, Duffy took the wraps off a section of Carnival's upcoming ship, the Horizon, which is scheduled for delivery a year from now. At a news conference, she disclosed that the waterslides and splash park will be Dr. Seuss-themed, the first since Carnival began its partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises in 2013.
Located on Deck 12, the Dr. Seuss WaterWorks will include two slides, including a 450-foot-long enclosed raft slide with tubing that alternates between translucent red and opaque white. The entrance will resemble a giant-size version of the Cat in the Hat's trademark floppy stovepipe headwear.
A second slide, the 213-foot Fun Things, will be an enclosed body slide with whimsical polka dots and special lighting effects, named after the Thing 1 and Thing 2 creatures from "The Cat in the Hat."
The splash area will have a 150-gallon tipping bucket in the shape of the Cat's hat. Clear partitions surrounding the park will feature quotations from Seuss stories, and the entrances will feature larger-than-life images of Seuss characters, such as the Grinch with a surfboard tucked under his arm.
"We think this is going to be a real fun, new, different feature," Duffy said.