subject: Should You Charter A Ship For Your Next Cruise Event? [print this page] It's a well known fact that cruising for groups, meetings and incentives offers outstanding value with savings of up to 40 percent off land-based venues, but is it right for you? According to a recent report in Corporate Meetings & Incentives magazine, 34 percent of their readers had booked a cruise for an incentive event and an astonishing 72 percent said they planned to book one - an unmistakable indication of where the industry is moving.
If you are planning a group cruise for your next incentive travel event, you may be considering whether chartering a ship would be a more appropriate option than booking reservations on a cruise containing unaffiliated passengers. It may or may not be, contingent on a number of issues.
Initially, it is valuable to understand your alternatives. When chartering a cruise ship, you frequently can pick between group, half-ship and full-ship charter options. Full ship charters clearly allow for the most freedom, customization, exclusivity and prestige, while group-level charters will probably be most economical.
Each one of these alternatives has pros and cons; yet, they each provide definite advantages for those corporate travel planners deciding if chartering a cruise ship is their top option.
In order for chartering a cruise ship for your next incentive cruise to be a good proposal, you will need to have a tight number of attendees, a good idea of your conference space requirements and the budget to make a significant financial commitment upfront, normally guaranteed by a letter of credit.
When these things are in place, your next mission is discovering the best cruise ship to fit your conference needs. This will need to include appropriately-sized meeting spaces, overall costs that are within your planning budget, a suitable itinerary and an overall quality that suits the level of service and prestige required by your incentive cruise client.
