Black Friday

[FJB]

 Did anyone score any great deals for cruises on Black Friday? 

[3Sisters]

@FJB I was so close to booking an RCL deal! I wanted to so badly, but I couldn't muster up the funds to make it happen. I made some big financial decisions this year, so I couldn't be irresponsible and pull the trigger. Next year I will absolutely save up to spend on a cruise deal. I'm hoping I see some other good deals in the spring of next year when I have the funds to responsibly put down. Did you score a good booking this year?

 

[FJB]

I did some looking and have a cruise in mind but still wrestling up the rest of the gang (7 more) to get onboard before putting down the deposit.  

[3Sisters]

@FJB Is it for a special occasion? It's always so difficult to coordinate it all! I would be so annoyed having to get everyone on board. That's one of the reasons I don't typically book in a group. You likely want all of your staterooms near each other too. That's a whole other factor. Everyone wants a different stateroom type and has their own preferences. If they bailed would you still book the itinerary? Based on the videos I have seen you post, you are such a great planner and organize your cruises to the max. If I had to trust anyone with making a cruise vacation epic, I would totally trust your expertise! 

[FJB]

6 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

@FJB Is it for a special occasion? It's always so difficult to coordinate it all! I would be so annoyed having to get everyone on board. That's one of the reasons I don't typically book in a group. You likely want all of your staterooms near each other too. That's a whole other factor. Everyone wants a different stateroom type and has their own preferences. If they bailed would you still book the itinerary? Based on the videos I have seen you post, you are such a great planner and organize your cruises to the max. If I had to trust anyone with making a cruise vacation epic, I would totally trust your expertise! 

Just a cruise for some friends who want a do over. We took them on their first cruise 10 years ago and the weather was terrible, with one canceled port. Ever since they have been wanting to do another, so I’m trying to get it done.  
 

I don’t mind doing the planning for groups - I like to be in charge!  As I’ve said on here previously, I’ve organized cruises for as many as 60 people.  

[Cruising Caribbean]

@FJB You are organized cruises for a group of over 60 guests? I'm impressed. I can barely get my immediate family to agree on where to eat for dinner onboard. If your group wants a do-over that means that last one must have been pretty memorable if it was over 10 years ago! You could do travel planning for a living or on the side. Not everyone enjoys all of the work it entails.  

[FJB]

3 hours ago, Cruising Caribbean said:

@FJB You are organized cruises for a group of over 60 guests? I'm impressed. I can barely get my immediate family to agree on where to eat for dinner onboard. If your group wants a do-over that means that last one must have been pretty memorable if it was over 10 years ago! You could do travel planning for a living or on the side. Not everyone enjoys all of the work it entails.  

In my next life, I plan on being a travel agent.  Need to get from cloud 9 to cloud 10?  I will be your man!  Just ask St Peter for my contact info when you arrive at the pearly whites. 

[3Sisters]

@FJB Your comment made me laugh! I would love for you to be my travel agent. There are many perks to being a travel agent too. I think you would be able to get cheaper cruise rates for yourself! If anything, that could be reason enough to give it a shot. I'm not sure what your day-to-day work life is like, but a chill work environment and just planning epic vacations with nice people sounds like a treat! I guess you can't do it all in this life. It sounds like this may just all be a dream, but getting better cruise rates may make your dream become a reality sooner than you think! 

[FJB]

10 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

@FJB Your comment made me laugh! I would love for you to be my travel agent. There are many perks to being a travel agent too. I think you would be able to get cheaper cruise rates for yourself! If anything, that could be reason enough to give it a shot. I'm not sure what your day-to-day work life is like, but a chill work environment and just planning epic vacations with nice people sounds like a treat! I guess you can't do it all in this life. It sounds like this may just all be a dream, but getting better cruise rates may make your dream become a reality sooner than you think! 

 I am my own boss - I am a grain farmer (born and raised on the farm) and hardware store owner. I love my job, which isn’t really a job since I love what I do. For the most part it’s very chill.  A travel agent job may not be as enjoyable dealing with people always looking for a deal and the perfect selfie picture vacation spot.  The first thing I tell new hires at my hardware store is “the customer is wrong until proven right”.  After more than 20 years in retail, I’ve learned customers are always trying to pull one over on ya - you can’t trust ‘em! 

[3Sisters]

@FJB That sounds like such a cool career. I love that this is something you were born and raised in. You must know all of the ins and outs of your business and feel very comfortable in your position at this point in your life. A cruise experience has to be a total change of pace from your average day-to-day experience. With all of those responsibilities, it has to be so nice to unplug and get away! I'm laughing at your training strategy. In fact, I bet you are one of the only bosses who has such an interesting perspective. From what I know about retail, the opposite approach is usually taken! I agree about not trusting anyone though. There are too many scammers out there. I don't understand why, but there just are that's why I try to stick to my immediate bubble. You can never be too cautious! 

[Woody14]

On 11/30/2023 at 5:17 AM, 3Sisters said:

 There are many perks to being a travel agent too. I think you would be able to get cheaper cruise rates for yourself! If anything, that could be reason enough to give it a shot. 

I did a little bit of cruise planning (TA work) as a side business for a few years.   While there are some perks and once in a while you can qualify for what they call a FAM deal (familiarization deal) mostly you are paying the same price as everyone else.   That said it works out a bit cheaper as you pay yourself the commission (which is not a big as you think).   Where you see the big savings is if you are flexible in time to travel you see the really good deals that come along from time to time (less so now than even 5 years ago).

[3Sisters]

@Woody14 I had no idea! I would think the cruise lines are giving at least 10% off for TAs who work directly with them. Did you enjoy your time as a TA? Was it lucrative in any way? From what you shared, it seems you have to book a lot of guests in order to profit from the deals. How did you get into cruise planning? I would love to do something like that, but I always assumed it wouldn't be lucrative enough considering its lack of consistency. I love the idea of having that work flexibility but when you are cruising yourself you likely need to purchase the wi-fi package and be accessible while onboard. That could be a potential downside. When I'm off, I love to be off, with no strings attached. 

[Woody14]

Did I enjoy my time? - yes, i might even consider doing it again as a bit of a side hustle, but it is a lot of work to make money at.

Was it lucrative in any way? on a part time basis it was not.   as a part time person you are strictly commission, generally the commission doesn't come until the ship sails so you can do a lot of work and not see the benefits for a while.     You will have start up costs and marketing costs et all, so it takes a number of sales to make any money.    The amount of commission generally is a straight %  of the dollar value of the sale.  The amount of work involved in selling an inside cabin vs a suite is not much but the amount of commission can be significant (an inside sale for $1,500 vs $10,000 for a suite).  To make a living at it I figured I pretty much needed pretty much needed about 10 sales a month.  The ones that did well in the agency I worked with worked at it as full time jobs or had large established client basis.   The rest of us were one of 4 groups: 

1. new or trying to get established
2. those who have been doing it part time for a long period of time - many in this group made enough money to pay for there personal cruising several times a year. 
3. those that were doing specialty work.  they specialized in either specific brand (maybe upto 3 brands), or types of cruises and only sold those.   This would allow other agents to forward there clients who are looking for their specialty to them.  Internally there was some sort of commission sharing for this to incentivise this.   It was a bit tricky as people don't want to give over their clients as it takes a lot to build the client base
4. they worked on doing hosted group cruising - one little known fact is that if you book 10 cabins most cruiselines will give you the 11th for free.   In doing group work you can take a couple of approaches give everyone a discount or special bonuses once you get to the 11th booking or use the 11th to travel yourself for free (well you still have to pay taxes and port fees but the commission on the 10 bookings more than covers that).       How much hosting done did vary as some took care of everything for people including helping onboard with excursions, reservations et all and some just sold them the cruise and said hi to them in passing on the ship, as well as everything in between.

This 4th group was a growing way of doing things and is likley the best way I can see doing it part time.  it deals with the need to be connected to deal with other clients as many of your clients will be on the same cruises you are on, how much service you give would depend on you.  I am an introvert and not enjoy being the host besides I would love to relax on vacation, but getting them on board and letting them know my plans and research would be totally my thing.   As noted above I may do things that way in the future.

[3Sisters]

@Woody14 That's super intriguing! I'm so surprised that you don't get your commission until after the ships have sailed. That blows my mind. I'm envisioning this scenario. You book a group of four for an awesome cruise itinerary for the following year. Everything seems perfect until 4 months out there is an itinerary change and the guest decides to cancel the cruise because it's skipping a major port of call. Does that mean all of your previous work was in vain? You can't control what the cruise lines decide to do with their ships and itineraries either. 

This is a very interesting breakdown of how this sector works and the multiple facets I was truly unaware of. The option of hosted group cruising is very enticing! I love this idea, and it must be so neat to see the whole vision and itinerary come to life. The buy ten get the 11th free promotion is another great perk. You are very knowledgeable when it comes to cruising. This career just has to come so naturally for you. Thanks for all of this enlightening info!

[Woody14]

13 hours ago, 3Sisters said:

Does that mean all of your previous work was in vain? You can't control what the cruise lines decide to do with their ships and itineraries either. 

Yup, that is one of the challenges.   You can kind of see if from the cruise line point of view as to why would they pay out commissions on a sale if what was sold never happened and they never got the customers money.     It is totally unfair to the commissioned sales people but I guess that is just part of the risk.

As an agent in this situation you really have to take this as a learning experience from the work you did and a sign that you are willing to do what it takes to help your clients out.   But from a cash in the pocket it really hurts.

[3Sisters]

@Woody14 I understand the perspective, but it's the risk you run as a TA in the cruise industry I guess. It's very fluctuating revenue when the income is 100% commission-based. Once you build your clientele I see how it could be a lucrative field, but I bet that takes at least a couple of years! I have considered this line of work, but I think it may be oversaturated. For niche bookings, such as the group options you mentioned above, I see how that particular TA sector could be very lucrative, but you have to be able to cruise with your guests at any given moment. As someone with a family to care for at home, that lifestyle wouldn't work because I have too many daily responsibilities at home. It takes a special person for sure!

 

 

[Cruising Caribbean]

@Woody14 If you become a TA again, sign me up! You have a great knowledge base of the cruising industry. Speaking of, do you think the Black Friday cruise deals are truly the best of the best? I have seen some great rates, but I still find off-season deals to be even better than those sailings included in the black Friday promotions. The super-publicized sales don't always save the most, but I'm definitely a bargain hunter. I'm not sure if you have recognized the same thing, but the port taxes and fees are always jacked up during those promotions. It feels like you're saving, but once you go to check out the extra fees almost double the base price! 

[Woody14]

3 hours ago, Cruising Caribbean said:

@Woody14 If you become a TA again, sign me up! You have a great knowledge base of the cruising industry. Speaking of, do you think the Black Friday cruise deals are truly the best of the best? I have seen some great rates, but I still find off-season deals to be even better than those sailings included in the black Friday promotions. The super-publicized sales don't always save the most, but I'm definitely a bargain hunter. I'm not sure if you have recognized the same thing, but the port taxes and fees are always jacked up during those promotions. It feels like you're saving, but once you go to check out the extra fees almost double the base price! 

Traditionally Wave season (January) is the best deals of the year. Some cruise lines offer special sales during that time to make it even better (Princess one day sale comes to mind - although it is usually on for 3 days).

I thought for many cruise lines this year that Black Friday was a let down.  I am sure there were some deals out there but I was looking to book a Royal or Celebrity in Europe and was very disappointed.

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Woody14 That's a great tip! Wave season is notorious for having some really low rates, and it comes right after the Black Friday promotions. If you missed the Black Friday promotions this is a great one to take advantage of. I have yet to book through Princess Cruises during that time of year so now I will be on the lookout for that. Thanks for the tip! 

I agree that Black Friday rates this year weren't that noteworthy. RCL actually had better rates the month before for the certain itinerary I had been keeping an eye on. When you add up the port taxes and fees, the price tends to become more inflated during those highly advertised promotions as mentioned above. Celebrity Cruises prices have been noticeably increasing. The line doesn't seem as affordable as it has been in past years. Which line do you prefer to cruise on, and which line do you think is the best-priced factoring in quality?

[Cruising Caribbean]

@FJB Did you get your group to pull the trigger on your Black Friday booking? If you missed it, you should try and take advantage of Wave Season. The Wave Season deals are already rolling out. Today I noticed the Virgin Voyages Wave Season promotions. Have you tried the line yet? I haven't gone on a solo cruise without my kids for a while, but I would be intrigued to try out the line. Since it's adults-only, it's a bit more exclusive. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on CCL, RCL, and MCS Cruises rates. Those are my go-to cruise lines lately while sailing with my family.  

[FJB]

On 12/14/2023 at 3:29 PM, Cruising Caribbean said:

@FJB Did you get your group to pull the trigger on your Black Friday booking? If you missed it, you should try and take advantage of Wave Season. The Wave Season deals are already rolling out. Today I noticed the Virgin Voyages Wave Season promotions. Have you tried the line yet? I haven't gone on a solo cruise without my kids for a while, but I would be intrigued to try out the line. Since it's adults-only, it's a bit more exclusive. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on CCL, RCL, and MCS Cruises rates. Those are my go-to cruise lines lately while sailing with my family.  

We didn’t pull the trigger but still looking.  
Virgin is not on my radar yet.  Maybe some day.  

[3Sisters]

@FJB Sometimes I feel like there are too many cruise line options to begin with! Virgin Voyages is one of the newbies of the gang. I like the idea of the line working out all of its kinks and learning curve before I jump aboard. Despite that thought process, the line has actually had some great reviews and guests seem to love it. I agree that Wave season could bring you even better prices so keep your eyes peeled. You never know if you find the perfect cruise for the right price. It seems the biggest hurdle you have to jump is getting all of your other friends on board, literally and figuratively.