Cruise360 Day 5 Recap

The third full day of Cruise360 2017 is in the books and it was an eventful one. Here’s our look at the highlights of today’s sessions.

We began the day with a series of morning workshops from non-cruise suppliers. Those included:

Greater Fort Lauderdale – We learned about great options for our customers cruising from this port, including pre and post-cruise hotels and attractions and some great tips for ground transportation, getting through customs with a mobile app and much more.

Carey Premium Ground Transportation – This company sponsored our ground transportation throughout the conference and we’ve been impressed with their service. They offer premium airport, cruise and ground transportation in over 1,000 places around the world. Very impressive.

Rocky Mountaineer – We’ve always wanted to take the train across western Canada and now we know a lot more about it. This was a fascinating presentation and we can’t wait to send customers on these amazing journeys.

Barbados – The birthplace of rum and a great place to visit by cruise or otherwise. The presenters here were hilarious, informative and even brought us all delicious rum cakes.

The morning workshops were followed by lunch and General Session II.

Today’s keynote was delivered by Karl Holz, President of New Vacation Operations and Disney Cruise Line for Disney Destinations. He gave a great speech, inspiring us to unleash our inner “super hero” and even brought a few friends from the Marvel universe to emphasize the point.

Following Mr. Holz was another great panel called “Small Ships, Big Return: How to Capitalize on the Popularity of Small Ship Cruising.” President of Paul Gauguin Cruises, Diane Moore, led this panel of small ship cruise line leaders in taking a deep dive into the “how to” of effectively marketing and selling small ship cruises. Given the ever-increasing popularity and growth of small ship cruising, and the income opportunity it represents, this panel was very important to us. The executives featured were Ellen Bettridge, President and CEO, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection; Navin Sawhney, COO, PONANT Yacht Cruises and Expeditions; Mark Conroy, Managing Director, The Americas, Silversea Cruises; Katherine Bonner, Senior Vice President, Tauck River & Small Ship Cruising; Terri Burke, Managing Director, Avalon Waterways; Kristin Karst, Executive Vice President and Co-owner, AmaWaterways; and John Delaney, President, Windstar Cruises.

After the General Session, the Cruise360 Marketplace (the trade show) was open for business. There were quite literally hundreds of booths to visit in four short hours, including over 30 cruise lines, dozens of hotels, representatives from various convention & visitors bureaus, and so much more.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced today that Jersey Boys will be the featured show on their new ship Norwegian Bliss. We were lucky enough to meet the cast at their booth at the trade show. They’ll be performing for us tomorrow night as part of the Hall of Fame Gala.

The great folks from the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau threw us a wonderful welcome reception at our hotel following the trade show.

That’s a wrap on Cruise360 Day 3 and our 5th day overall here in Florida. More tomorrow, including a tour of Carnival Vista, coming in 2018 to Galveston. Good night.