Discounting frustration, female leadership and famous explorers, plus four more cruise talking points

Speakers also covered a range of subjects away from sales. Themis Advisory director Joanna Kolatsis discussed her journey in the legal sector, while Ambassador Cruise Line chief Christian Verhounig explained what cruise lines are doing to meet increasingly strict sustainability rules.

Here are the top takeaways from the three-day Latitude Cruise Conference.

Agents’ frustration with discounting

During the conference’s final session, Elite Travel Group chair Robert Lines appealed to industry leaders to try and tackle discounting in the market. 

“Can you make it a level playing field?” he asked suppliers. “Sometimes agents can do a lot of work only to be pipped to the post by another agency offering a discount. Let’s support retail agents.”

Eithne Williamson, Princess Cruises’ UK and Europe vice-president, said she understood Lines and other agents’ frustration. But she added: “Legally, we cannot tell agents what to price a cruise. We want agents to tell customers about the value and experiences they can have on a cruise.”

Louise Craddock, Oceania Cruises’ UK and Ireland sales director, echoed Williamson’s comments. “We can monitor how agents are advertising our cruises,” she said. “Why do we discount cruises? We do not discount flights and hotels. Cruises offer so much value for money.”

Advantage’s ’cutting edge’ marketing support

Addressing delegates, Advantage’s senior commercial manager Jonny Peat announced the launch of a new marketing programme, designed to help members engage customers.

The new Advantage Marketing Programme will give members access to direct and digital marketing tools at a low cost. Members can sign up to an annual plan that includes different levels of data-driven marketing.

Those who sign up will be able to target specific customer segments with tailored email campaigns and direct mail. The programme offers four packages including an all-inclusive package; a digital-only package, a simply cruise package and a store-only package. 

Priced from £99 per year per branch, the packages feature different marketing tools. The programme also scores customers based on how likely they are to rebook.

David Forder, Advantage’s head of marketing, said: “I don’t believe any other consortium is offering this level of segmentation. It’s cutting edge from a consortia point of view, but outside of travel there are lots of smart things with data.”

Currently, 141 member branches have signed up to the programme, but Advantage plans to expand it in 2026. 

Introduce cruise into the conversation 

Peat told delegates his “ambition” was to get agent members to suggest cruises to clients as an alternative to land-based holidays, even if the customer has not previously mentioned cruising.

"The worst thing the customer can say is ‘no’,” he explained. “Remember, according to Clia, 71% of non-cruisers are ready to talk about taking a [cruise] holiday.”

Peat also shared the results of Advantage’s cruise prize draw, which ran during September and received 13,825 entries from consumers keen to win an all-expenses paid AmaWaterways river cruise with flights. 

“This competition was designed to help grow members’ customer base and showcase that they offer cruise products,” he said. “Running a consumer competition on behalf of our members was a first for us.” 

Getting clients thinking about expedition 

Silversea’s Shanks reminded agents how “commercially compelling” expedition sailings can be, with the average commission earned for an expedition booking running to around £3,000.

He urged agents to tell clients about the Galapagos or Antarctica before suggesting other destinations. Shanks recommended agents gift customers a book about explorer Ernest Shackleton’s expeditions across Antarctica 150 years ago to inspire them.

“If you want to engage with guests about going down to Antarctica, buy a Shackleton book,” said Shanks. “You could spend £7.99 on a book and make £3,000.”

White’s Travel director Mel White revealed how her agency had a customer who had booked an expedition cruise in the Galapagos and now wants to sail on an Antarctica cruise. “He has been cruising all his travelling life, but he’s never done expedition before,” she added. 

‘It’s all about widening the net’ 

When AmaWaterways’ Loizou was asked what his cruise concerns were, he said: “I’m focused on making sure we’re taking advantage of the opportunities that are there. "We want to grab market share. There are huge opportunities, so it’s all about how we widen the net.”

He also called on agents to “not be afraid of switch-selling customers to something that is more appropriate”. Loizou stressed this approach would encourage the client to remain loyal to the agent.

’Let’s talk about leaders – not female leaders’

Kolatsis stressed the need for women vying for leadership roles to “speak up more”. “As a travel industry, we’ve got some fantastic female leaders in some huge businesses,” she said.

“Look at [Celebrity Cruises’ former EMEA boss] Jo Rzymowska and [Seabourn’s Europe and UK vice-president] Lynn Narraway. We need to speak up more. We must not hide the light under a bushel.”

She added: “For me, as a woman, we win when we talk about leaders rather than female leaders. There is no substitute for hard work, resilience and graft.”

Every decision ’weighed by sustainability impact’

During a session entitled “sustainability of the seas”, Verhounig outlined the moves the no-fly ex-UK line were taking to reduce emissions.

After highlighting how Ambassador operates two ships that sit in the top 15% most environmentally-efficient vessels in the industry, Verhounig commented: “I do think the cruise industry is under stricter rules than others.

"[Cruise] is the most regulated industry in the world – but that’s a good thing. It means that we’re doing it right and we could be inspected at any time. Port authorities can come on board and check the safety and environmental aspects of the ship.”

He added: “Every single business decision we make is weighted by the sustainability impact that it has.”