Barbara Khan has sold a lot of Silversea cruises, and a lot of transatlantic cruises, in her career—but she had never sailed either. So when she was offered the chance to sail a repositioning cruise on Silver Moon, 14 days from Lisbon to Barbados at no charge, she jumped at the chance.
Angie Schwartz, on the other hand, has sailed across the Atlantic many times. The idea of spending two weeks at sea never grows old for her. She and her husband, a former Navy submariner, “love crossings, and we love sea time,” she says. So she, too, signed up.
The two travel advisors crossed paths as ambassadors for their respective consortia, Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network; both say it’s a great way to see the product while you see the world.
With a specialty in luxury FITs and cruises to Europe, Khan has sold a lot of Silversea; it’s her top cruise supplier. So as the pandemic began to wane, and her customers came back, she took the Voyager host training course online—and chose this trip for two new experiences: the transatlantic and the Silversea, and because it started in Portugal, a country she loves to visit.
Schwartz, meanwhile, is always looking to host a good cruise across the ocean. Her biggest was the first leg of a Regent world cruise, San Francisco to Tahiti, with more than 100 Signature guests onboard.
“I’ve been in the program for about 10 years, and I try to sail at least once a year,” she says. “It can be anything; we’ve escorted a group in Alaska and other European itineraries. But we usually cross the Atlantic.”
She finds the best part her job as host, getting the group together to socialize, most easily accomplished on long sailings; “they tend to have a lot of lectures and cooking demonstrations, so you really get to meet your group and do those things together,” she says.
What’s Involved
Considering what you get in return, the job is not very difficult, both ladies agree. Before the sailing, you promote it on social media and to your customers. You reach out to any other travel advisors who have guests onboard to ask about any special requests and celebrations, and advise them to share your name as a host who will be sailing to offer any services they may require. Onboard you host a cocktail party so the group can meet you and each other, offer a welcome from the consortium, advise everyone to reach out if they need anything, and perhaps put together a group shore excursion.
Of course, when you come back, hopefully you will sell it.
“Silver Moon is an amazing product and it was a great experience,” says Khan, who is a luxury travel advisor based in Florida; her company, Journeys by the Book, is an independent affiliate of Protravel, Inc. “Now that I’ve been on it, I can so easily sell it. I understand all the ins and outs of what’s included—which is pretty much everything, gratuities, drinks, wine. You can have champagne and caviar all day if you want to—your butler could bring you some every afternoon at 2:00. One guy on our sailing drank champagne all day long.”
Lessons learned? Using the ship’s wifi to work while in the middle of the ocean was a little difficult—but she did manage to issue eight airline tickets while onboard, Khan says. While this time she stepped into a slot left vacant when someone canceled, next time she will choose a sailing that’s easier to sell.
“It’s a really good experience and I’ll definitely do it again,” she says, eyeing her number-two cruise line behind Silversea, Oceania.
“It’s fun,” agrees Schwartz, who owns Windsor Travel Corp. in Houston. She signs up every year through Signature, where you can choose a cruise line you want to sail and then three specific sailings you would like to go on. There’s also a waitlist for when someone cancels.
“It’s usually not a problem to get on a cruise,” she says. None of her own customers were sailing on this long cruise, but there were 15 Signature guests altogether, including a group of single ladies attracted by Silversea’s “great singles program.” Twelve showed up at the cocktail party, a good showing, and Schwartz had lunch with the group and went to yoga with them.
There is rarely an emergency, though on her last cruise one guest was not picked up at the airport. Schwartz followed up to make sure Silversea took care of it, and that she was reimbursed. “They VIP’d her, offered free laundry and a wine pairing lunch and a lot of other things, so that was pretty cool.”
While it is “absolutely forbidden” to sell while onboard, she does advise those in the group to talk to the cruise consultant onboard about booking their next cruise, which gives the clients a discount and their travel advisor a head’s up if a booking is made.
Signature and Virtuoso Offer More Opportunities
At Signature, meanwhile, VP of cruise partnerships Julie Howard said the Signature Collection of preferred partnerships includes 15 cruise companies. Every sailing includes an expert host, a welcome cocktail reception to foster camaraderie, and a special benefit like a private car and guide or shipboard credit. There also are special events on select cruise lines, onboard and in port.
Signature works closely with hosts to ensure they have all the marketing tools available to actively promote before, during and after their hosted voyage, and with agency owners to assign vetted hosts based on their product and destination expertise, Howard says.
New opportunities do become available throughout the year. For 2023, for example, they just added hosted dates on Silver Endeavor, including a 16-night roundtrip Reykjavik itinerary in September.
“Hosting is a great opportunity for Signature advisors to gain product and destination expertise. Those interested in hosting can reach out to their agency owner/manager and the Signature Cruise Department for more information on the program and open sailing dates,” she said.
Virtuoso, too, has seen a lot of interest in its Virtuoso Voyages program and expects to grow it from the current 400 sailings across 11 cruise lines, says Marisa Pilato, senior product manager of business growth programs. “It’s time to take the program to the next level. In collaboration with network experts—cruise partners, hosts, agency owners—we will determine how to elevate the program to its next iteration. Stay tuned….”
More than 200 Virtuoso Voyages are still available for clients to book in 2023, including, for example:
Client Benefit Options: $150 pp Shipboard Credit, $175 pp Personalized Experience Credit, Private Car & Driver, or shore experience: Medieval Gerona with a Gourmet Catalonian Lunch + Local Wines in Palamos
Client Benefit Options: $150 pp Shipboard Credit, $175 pp Personalized Experience Credit, or shore experience: Farm-to-Table Cooking Lesson in Gytheio
Client Benefit Options: $150 pp Shipboard Credit, $175 pp Personalized Experience Credit, Private Car & Driver, or shore experience: On The Market Trails in Ho Chi Minh City
But while those may offer positive experiences for clients, the real winners are the ambassadors who sail with them, say Schwartz and Khan.
“I think everyone should try it, it’s a wonderful way to see the world and meet people,” Schwartz says. “I love to work with groups and love to cruise, and I do sell quite a bit of Silversea. So to me, it’s a perfect thing to do.”
“Of course, I will do it again,” Khan says. “I’m looking for my next adventure.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
