Holland America’s ‘Secret Shopper’
by Bill Potuchek (Director, OSSN Connecticut Chapter)

During a conversation with our new sales director for Holland America in March, I learned that selected travel agents this summer would have the opportunity to be selected as “Secret Shoppers” for the cruise line on some of their Alaska Cruise Tours. Since my wife Elaine and I have always wanted to visit Alaska, and since several clients had raved about Alaska, I decided to apply.

In April, after taking the required WebEx training, I learned that I had been selected. I chose Cruise Tour #4, which would take me on a 10-day land tour from Anchorage to Skagway by way of the Yukon, followed by four days on the “Zuiderdam.” The only requirements were that I had to write a diary of my experiences each day (including comments from fellow passengers) and I could not tell anyone that I was a travel agent. For those who know me, keeping quiet for two weeks would be no easy task.

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