October Cruise Night?

I only have 5 cruises under my belt, all with Royal Caribbean. Can one of you explain what October Cruise Night is and if any of you are running specials is it a specific night or is the entire month? Any information you can provide about this would be helpful to those of us who don't have a clue what it's all about...

Thanks!

Actually I'll blog about it - if any of you or all of you would like some free PR.

Just let me know

1. When it takes place
   
2. How it works
   
3. Why it's a good time to book
   
4. Any incentives for booking
   
5. Any information you might think people may need to know
   

World's Largest Cruise Night!!

Cruise Lines Industry Association (CLIA)

CLIA’s third annual World’s Largest Cruise Night (WLCN), the largest one-day travel agency initiative of its kind is, being held on Wednesday, October 17, 2007. This year, CLIA has also announced the introduction of a new feature, “Virtual” World’s Largest Cruise Night, to allow agents to reach even more potential cruise guests. WLCN serves as the centerpiece for CLIA’s National Cruise Vacation Month, which each year focuses consumer attention on the pleasures of cruising every October.

Here's a link to my Virtual Cruise Night page:

http://wlcn.cruising.org/luvcruising

[size=18]I forgot to say that there are Cruise Night Specials, as well as Cruise Month Specials. October 17 is the official night to have your Cruise "Night" or Party!

Thanks!

Does anyone know if Cunard is offering any specials for Cruise Night?

Lady Jane wrote:

Does anyone know if Cunard is offering any specials for Cruise Night?

Cunard does have specials for Cruise night but it may vary by agency. Common offer is upto $300 OBC per cabin* & 50% reduced deposit on any new sailing booked. These are combinable with group amenities and past passenger discounts. It will be a great time to book!

*$100 OBC Inside/Oceanview
$200 OBC Balcony
$300 OBC Grills
For sailings 9 nights or longer on QM2 or QV

Ronnie - in a nutshell an agency can have a cruise night any time during the year, but CLIA sponsors the World's Largest Cruise Night on Oct 17th (this is the 3rd year). This is the first year they are offering the virtual cruise night. Our virtual cruise night website is http://wlcn.cruising.org/shipsntrips We'll probably be offering a physical location cruise night as well.

In conjunction with WLCN the various member cruise lines offer specials, which can incude upgrades, OBC, discounts, in room coupon books.

Ajani wrote:

Actually I'll blog about it - if any of you or all of you would like some free PR.

Just let me know

1. When it takes place
   
2. How it works
   
3. Why it's a good time to book
   
4. Any incentives for booking
   
5. Any information you might think people may need to know

Ajani,

WLCN is Oct 17th, both "in person" and virtually (although the virtual sites will be up Oct 15th-31st).

It's a good time to book because there are a lot of offers/specials not normally available, such as discounts, OBC, reduced deposits, etc (this doubles as the answer for #4 too).

Now are the reduced deposits only on the 17th? I'm specifically looking at the July 2 2008 sailing on QM2 that everyone has been discussing on here.

Joon,
Most agencys will offer the specials the whole week of Oct. 17th but you will want to call or email ahead to find out.

The Princess and Cunard cruise sales are typically a week long ... we've got two in October (one is specific to Europe sailings I believe) ... the exact dates may vary from agency to agency.

I don't know if any of the TAs have talked to the ADMIN but would it be possible to have a live Cruise Night here? Just a thought, I'm not sure what's really invovled but, it might be a good way to have a live chat session, and, take booking requests.

What do you TAs think?

Neil

Neil,

We could do a live chat ... but I'd suggest a different night that week, even the night before Oct 16th since a lot of TAs might have events they need to be at physically on Oct 17th.

I think it's a good idea Neil but as Host Susan said having it another night other than October 17th would be the better way. I'll shoot an email over to Tina with the suggestion.

I'd recommend holding it before Oct 17th - so if anyone decides to book, they can take full advantage of specials being offered on Oct 17th - holding the CF online Cruise Night after Oct 17th could mean missing some of the specials.

Enabling "pre-booking" for CF members prior to the 17th is a great idea Susan. I know I will be very busy the 17th in the evening as people are getting online but would be able to process bookings during the day. Especially, if all the information is already had. We are having our local travel trade show this Thursday so I am looking forward to getting all the latest promotions direct from the reps. Going to be a fun night!

The cruise quote function would be one of the best ways for people to gather their cruise information but then we could have the open chat here for answering questions and finding out what new roll calls are needed! (May each agent should list what cruise lines they are having specials for?)