OSSN’s “Whodunit” Cruise
by Paula Mitchell Manning

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It was these thoughts that inspired our OSSN Southern California Chapters (including Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego) to organize a ship inspection on Royal Caribbean International's "Radiance of the Seas" to expand into a Seminar at Sea FAM Cruise.

Then, in the words of Emeril, we decided to "kick it up a notch – and BAM!" our ship inspection was expanded to include a trip on Amtrak to San Diego for our Seminar at Sea FAM Cruise with a Halloween Weekend "Whodunit Mystery Theme" twist.

Several of our OSSN Los Angeles and Orange County chapter members began their journey by boarding Amtrak at its Union Station, Fullerton, Anaheim, and San Juan Capistrano stations. We had the pleasure of being upgraded to Reserved Business Class and experienced the most stress-free way to travel to San Diego. Our reserved business class seats included spacious seating and complimentary coffee, tea and pastries. For those of us boarding at Union Station in Los Angeles, we were treated to a shuttle from the ticketing counter to our train. Once onboard, we enjoyed a host of freshly baked treats I'd purchased from my favorite bakery (an assortment of croissants, bagels and donuts.)

When we reached San Diego and walked out of the Amtrak station, we were only four blocks from Royal Caribbean International's "Radiance of the Seas."

Talk about having a perfect start for a trip! Our adventure on the "Radiance of the Seas" began with a ship inspection conducted by Sherry Groff, the RCI business development manager (BDM) hosting us. Sherry offered our members an exciting and fabulous introduction to the sailing that many of us were fortunate enough to be taking. She was joined by the equally informative and delightful Lori (RCI’s San Diego BDM.) As we toured the ship, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of this amazing ship. The "Radiance" has the most incredible elevators that face the ocean and make you feel as if you are rising up above the sea. I felt like a kid as I took every opportunity to ride the elevators and gaze at the breathtaking view of the nautical paradise before me.

After a wonderful gourmet lunch, several of our OSSN Members stayed onboard and enjoyed the drink of the day as we started our journey to Cabo San Lucas.

We began our Seminar at Sea training with an Elevator Speech Contest. Each of our attendees had to give a 30-second introduction that was meant to impress. The goal of the contest was for the attendees to introduce themselves to the group and make us want to not only accept the contestants' business card, but also to use it. The winner of our contest was our most seasoned travel professional, Henrietta Zarovsky. Henrietta is not only our most senior member, but she has traveled to more than 72 countries.

I especially designed our Seminar at Sea training to have our attendees put together client presentation packages to sell Royal Caribbean International's "Radiance of the Seas."

We divided our attendees into five groups: four Travel Agency Groups and one Client Group. The goal of the exercise was for each group to come up with a PowerPoint presentation followed by a Q&A to sell their clients a sailing on the "Radiance of the Seas." Our Client Group's goal was to come up with every challenge possible for each of our four travel agency groups. We also had our attendees use their digital cameras to take pictures around the ship and our Cabo San Lucas destination.

We had the additional good fortune to have Shauna Hoffman of Whodunit Productions on the sailing to give us tips on how to increase our earning potential by adding a "Whodunit Mystery Theme Cruises" twist to our clients' sailings. Many of our Seminar at Sea attendees also participated in the "Whodunit Mystery Theme Cruise" events. We had a blast as we joined the other 180-plus Whodunit Mystery attendees on the ship. We were each given a character to play along. As we enjoyed our dinner, the mystery continued to be played out as the characters from the Whodunit cast visited each table and dropped clues. My character for the Whodunit was that of the Psychic. I had a ball giving readings and predicting "doom" for the various cast members and my fellow Whodunit partners in crime.

The other plus of having our Seminar at Sea take place during Halloween was the excitement of dressing up and enjoying the Halloween festivities. The "Radiance" had a late-night costume contest followed by a fabulous party and midnight buffet. It was hard to think of food after our fabulous dinner, but for the sake of the chef who worked so hard on the buffet – I managed to eat a little (okay, a lot.)

If you ever register for a ship inspection on Royal Caribbean International's "Radiance of the Seas,” I suggest you do what our OSSN Southern California Chapters did – do it Emeril style, "kick it up a notch - and BAM!" book yourself a cabin on the "Radiance of the Seas."

(Many thanks to everyone within our OSSN Southern California Chapters, especially Lei Gonzalez (San Diego) and Mary Ann Mari (Inland Empire) who promoted and supported this event within their groups!)

Paula Mitchell Manning serves as the director of the OSSN chapters in Los Angeles and Orange County. You can reach her via her listing on the OSSN Chapter Directors Roster.

(Credits: Lei Gonzalez; LaDonna Jackson; Lynn Merritt; Larry Mitchell Photography; Shantha Mony; Carol Volesky; Richard Whittington)