Selling Cruises: Family Cruises
by John Hawks

These days, family-friendly cruising is the rule, not the exception.

We've come a long way since the days when sailing on the high seas was a pastime reserved exclusively for high-rolling socialites. Now, most new-build ships come complete with ice-skating rinks, kids' clubs, outdoor movies, and counselor-led programs from toddler to teen years.

Before you book your family clients on a cruise, take a look at the nearest departure ports. Because many cruise lines have farmed out more ships to different homeports around the United States, you'll find the close driving distance to these departure points (instead of an entire family's worth of airline tickets!) a big selling point.

Then, you should ask tough questions to gauge just how family friendly a cruise line will be for your clients. For example, how many onboard counselors are assigned for how many children during the kids' programming on a typical sailing? Will those counselors respect your clients' wishes regarding, for example, the types of food the children will be eating or the video games or DVDs they might watch. Do your parent clients want pagers so that their kids can contact them no matter where they might be on the ship? And, how much "family togetherness" time do your clients want, as opposed to separate activities for the children so that the parents can enjoy a break?

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