Another year of Cruise3Sixty has come and quickly gone, but this year marks a special milestone for CLIA’s Cruise3Sixty – the convention’s tenth anniversary.
Quick Background
Launched in 2005 by the Cruise Line International Association, Cruise3Sixty is the cruise industry’s most prominent travel agent convention and conference. Each year, thousands of travel agents descend upon either the city of Fort Lauderdale or Vancouver for the multi-day convention. During the convention, travel agents attend industry executive panels, cruise line workshops, product seminars, and cruise line sponsored ship familiarization tours. For travel agents, Cruise3Sixty is continually praised as the industry’s most important and informational convention for the travel agent community.
Cruise3Sixty 2014
General Sessions
This past weekend, CLIA’s President, Christine Duffy, welcomed the travel agent and cruise community to the tenth anniversary edition of Cruise3Sixty. On Friday, the convention kicked into full swing with the first General Session. During the first session, Christine Duffy delivered the keynote address on the state of the industry and the bright future ahead. In addition, Christine Duffy also moderated a panel featuring Arnold Donald, Richard Fain, Kevin Sheehan, andĀ Pierfrancesco Vago. During the panel, each executive discussed the future of the cruise industry, their current brand, and their commitments to the travel agent community. Throughout the panel, each leader found the time to jokingly tease their counterparts over new ship orders, dining concepts, and onboard amenities. Kevin Sheehan of Norwegian received the biggest laugh of the morning following his tongue in cheek comment to Royal Caribbean’s Richard Fain: “Richard, we here at Norwegian are just so excited about your newly announced Quantum Freestyle dining concept.” The weekend’s General Sessions also featured special guest speakers and panels discussing the topics of finding happiness in business, the art of upselling, and an outlook on the future of travel agents in the cruise industry.
Workshops & Seminars
This past weekend, travel agents once again had the opportunity to learn more about individual cruise lines, destinations, and the latest cruise industry products in specialized workshops and seminars. Each workshop, which was led by a cruise line or destination representative, provided travel agents with invaluable information, tips, and resources to better assist their cruise clients.
ShipĀ FamiliarizationĀ Tours
Over the past few days, travel agents had an exclusive opportunity to experience the onboard product offered by a number of cruise lines. Each day, CLIA travel agents were granted exclusive access to ships docked in Port Everglades and PortMiami, taking part in special ship tours and exclusive lunches. Throughout their exclusive tour, travel agents had the opportunity to experience the onboard product offered by the cruise line. These familiarization tours provided travel agents with an invaluable education experience, allowing them to share their experiences and knowledge of the onboard product with their clients in future cruise bookings.
With the closing of Cruise3Sixty today, CLIA can celebrate its tenth successful Cruise3Sixty. After years of commitment by CLIA, Cruise3Sixty has become the premier event for travel agents throughout the cruise industry. With record setting attendance year over year, CLIA’s Cruise3Sixty continues to lead the cruise industry in travel agent education, familiarization, and training. Cruise3Sixty will continue to grow as an important, invaluable experience for travel agents throughout the cruise industry.
