As cruise lines develop new accommodations to fit their customers, it has become more difficult for families to grasp the range of cabin configurations available to them. But that is good news for agents, since this complexity is where an expert can make a difference and earn a client’s loyalty.
Multigenerational cruising has continued to show strong growth during the past decade, and cruise lines are changing to meet the needs of this market. Cruise lines have become very competitive in offering accommodations suited to various sizes of family and multigenerational groups, creating an array of options suitable for different combinations of age groups and tastes.
“Cruise lines have created so many options for accommodations and also for dining, and it’s an enormous value for the family, since the kids’ program is complimentary,” said Brad Anderson, co-president of Avoya Travel/American Express.
Educated agents who can qualify the group correctly and match it with exactly the right accommodations may become their clients’ heroes. However, qualifying these groups requires careful attention to a number of factors.
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“The most important thing is to get the ages and names of all the members of the party,” said Camille Olivere, Norwegian Cruise Line’s senior vice president of sales. “Recommendations vary with ages and also with gender. A family with three teenage girls, for instance, might want to put them in an adjoining room — in the case of teenage boys they might prefer to put them across the hall.”
Anderson has traveled with his children and grandchildren for 33 years, and he noted that chronological age isn’t always the whole story.
“There’s a big difference between pleasing an outdoorsy kid and one who is into the arts,” he said.
Anderson suggested that it’s crucial for the agent to find out what the family’s past successful vacations were like and what activities family members are interested in now.
Savvy agents learn what the parental rules are going to be on the trip and who else is going to be included in the group in order to best determine if children should stay in a cabin with adults, with one another or in a connecting room.
Booking early to get the arrangement that best suits the family is another key to client satisfaction. Vance Gulliksen, public relations manager at Carnival Cruise Lines, said the company tries to keep family groups within the same deck, a process made easier when the bookings are made well in advance.
Olivere, too, urged agents to block out group space for family use as early as possible. Olivere said that, after running focus groups on what agents want, Norwegian plans to create an oversize printed version of its deck plans as a helpful tool to better show families their options.
Room for the Whole Family
Concepts develop over time within a cruise line’s family offerings. For instance, family staterooms on Royal Caribbean’s Voyager and Radiance-class ships can accommodate up to six people, but include only one bathroom. On Freedom-class ships, the 2,025-square-foot Presidential Family Suites have four bedrooms and four bathrooms and can accommodate up to 14 guests. The Oasis class has somewhat smaller suites, at 1,618 square feet. Royal’s new ships also have inside family staterooms that will sleep six.
Creativity has made the inside staterooms premium choices on Disney Cruise Line’s new Dream and Fantasy. The reason: The line has developed “Magic Portholes,” flat-screen televisions that show high-definition images of what is outside, with the added perk of animated characters visiting at intervals. In addition, each ship has 500 connecting doors that allow families to arrange themselves in units and, on connecting veranda staterooms, the partition between verandas can be opened to create a larger shared balcony. The majority of Disney’s ships have staterooms with a split bathroom design — one side with a toilet and sink, the other with a sink and shower/tub combination.
New stateroom categories on Disney’s latest vessels include the Concierge One-Bedroom Suite with Veranda (622 square feet), which sleeps up to five with a queen-size bed, a living area with a double convertible sofa and a Murphy bed. It also has a walk-in closet, a whirlpool bathtub, a rain shower and a balcony. The Concierge Family Ocean View Stateroom with Veranda (306 square feet) sleeps five with a queen-size bed, a double convertible sofa and a pull-down bed that has characters from “Peter Pan” overhead. It has a privacy curtain, and Disney’s split bath has a round tub with seats.
Other family features from Disney include room service menus with children’s selections, and portable wave phones help families keep in touch while onboard. When young children are part of the group, passengers can pre-order baby supplies online, such as portable cribs and Diaper Genies.
Carnival has catered to 750,000 children this year — the largest number in the industry — and Gulliksen said new ships are offering more quads and connecting rooms than ever. Carnival’s standard staterooms are large, and some can accommodate up to five people with two lower beds that convert to a king, a sofabed or rollaway bed and two upper berths that fold into the wall when not in use.
Carnival Dream introduced deluxe oceanview staterooms with five berths, two bathrooms and picture windows, and the design continues on the Breeze. Gulliksen pointed out that from an economical standpoint it is better to have one large suite than two staterooms because you get third and fourth person rates instead of first and second rates in two staterooms.
Travel agents reported strong demand for Norwegian Cruise Line’s 506-square-foot, two-bedroom family villas that sleep up to six passengers on Norwegian Epic. These have a separate children’s bedroom, two bathrooms, living and dining areas and a private balcony, plus access to the concierge lounge and private courtyard. There are also 216-square-foot family balcony staterooms and 245-square-foot family deluxe balcony staterooms, each with twin beds (convertible to queen), plus a sofabed and an upper bed. Epic’s bath design separates the shower and toilet, and the sink is in the stateroom itself.
Norwegian’s family suites make it possible for different age groups to maintain their schedules without disturbing one another, with a living room that has a double sofabed and a private bedroom with two twins/queen bed configuration, plus a smaller bedroom with one sofabed.
Olivere advises families to consider suites, pointing out the small per-day cost difference between traveling in balcony staterooms and in suites. According to Olivere, Norwegian’s upcoming Getaway and Breakaway ships will introduce mini-suites, which have bigger bathrooms with double sinks and are a good value — priced closer to balcony staterooms than suites.
The family reunion program at Holland America Line draws family groups of eight or more staterooms with a head of family reward: a complimentary upgrade from oceanview to veranda stateroom, based on availability. There is also a $50 Fountain Soda Card per stateroom, a Pinnacle Grill lunch for all family members and a $50 Beverage Card per stateroom.
Another favorite is the 575-square-foot Family Ocean View Staterooms on Celebrity’s Solstice-class ships, which come with a master bedroom, a single bedroom, a sofa with a trundle bed and balconies from 53 to 105 square feet. Celebrity provides refrigerators, cribs and freshly processed baby food for guests who ask ahead.
Princess Cruises carries about 100,000 children annually, many in multigenerational groups, and the line’s larger ships have two 600-square-foot family suites each, comprised of two complete staterooms that connect into a living room and private balcony. Free baby food is available if requested well in advance, and cribs are also complimentary. Rented walkie-talkies keep members in touch in different areas of the ships.
With the maze of accommodations to choose from, agents need to stay up to date in order to enable families to get some quality “see” time at sea together away from the daily pressures.
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| Agents can help families choose the best cabin configurations for their group. // © 2012 Disney Cruise Line |
