Courtesy Louis Cruises
Riel believes that group travel cruisers have a common bond and love sharing the time on board doing what they enjoy doing back home. “It’s a lot of fun. There’s a lot of camaraderie,” said Riel.
Cruise lines and travel agents study what people enjoy doing back home and try to replicate it on the ship. What are their favorite activities onboard the ship? The sun, pool, excursions, shows and food.
“But it’s being together. Many groups stage private functions: sessions, meetings or cocktail parties related to the group’s activities,” said Riel.
For example, a college alumni group might hear a stirring talk from and get to meet and be photographed with two former basketball or football stars from their school.
“People from the U.S. may get together on a cruise to experience cultural events in their native land. One group we had met the ambassador or dignitaries from their native country. They heard about changes and growth there, and reminisced and were involved in that aspect of it. Both younger and older people had a great family and learning experience,” Riel said.
John Peters, an executive with the travel company Tripology, knows that some cruisers prefer the opposite of group travel and prefer to get off the ship and enjoy things by themselves. “But when the experience is new, it’s always nice to have people around who can do it with you,” said Peters.
From his travel perch, Peters sees much extended-family group travel. Also, religious organizations travel in groups, and so do school alumni. Another trend is group travel on smaller ships.
“The group size is smaller, but it takes up a much larger portion of the cabins, which can turn out to be a great experience for them,” said Peters.
Peters said that alumni organizations and groups “set up really cool small-ship itineraries where they take over the entire ship — charter it. That is a fantastic experience. I’ve been on a few of them myself.”
The key strategy for agents, advised Peters, is to be smart and search for new cruise customers on land.
“I have counseled group sales people for 15 to 20 years. The first thing I tell them is to go spend time in a [retirement] town and look for new group customers. Plan to be there a few days.
“Check with the chamber of commerce. Get a list of all local retirement communities and religious organizations. Figure out how to get in front of their memberships. That’s a great way to sell group travel.”
