Cost Comparison of a Meeting at Sea and on Land

The following is some information that maybe helpful in your decision process whether to consider a meeting or conference at sea versus a meeting or conference on land. The following comparison is an overview of items that are needed to set up a successful meeting and what are charges on land vs on a ship.


The following items are offered at no charge when holding a meeting or conference at sea and are charged when a meeting is held on land.

1. Complimentary 24 hour room service
2. Complimentary in Room Movies
3. All meals
4. Baggage Handling
5. Complimentary coffee 24 hours a day
6. Broadway Entertainment
7. Meeting and Breakout Space
8. Audio Visual Equipment
9. Airport meet and greet and transfer
10. Midnght mini buffett
11. Welcoming cocktail party

Additional benefits of a meeting or conference on a cruise ship
1. Exciting ports of call to exotic and historic places
2. Full casino, duty free shopping and spas
3. Sports activities such as basketball, ice-skating, rollerblading, rock climbing and golf
4. Requires less planning than a land based program
5. Higher participation of the attendees, cannot be interrupted by phone calls or other distractions.

In conclusion meetings and conferences at sea are less expensive to hold, easier to plan, have a greater participation by the attendees, boost morale leading to improved performance in the work place, and create a far more conducive atmosphere to do good business.

For additional information on setting up a meeting or conference at sea contact Bill at CruiseOne, 904-278-1105 or toll free 877-365-3159. Our e-mail address is jaselage@cruiseone.com.

Advantages of Meetings at Sea

There has been an explosion in the popularity of conducting business meetings and conferences at sea. The cruise lines have responded by building new ships with dedicated conference rooms and large theater conference rooms that rival the best hotels have to offer. The cost savings of a meeting at sea can be substantial in comparison to a like meeting at a land based facility. On a cruise ship the meals (all you can eat), AV equipment, meeting rooms, and entertainment are included in the cruise fare.

The decision to conduct a meeting or conference at sea on a cruise ship, the following are some questions a company needs to answer
1. What type of meeting, at sea or on land, will attract a larger target audience
2. What type of meeting will leave the participants more energized
3. Which type of meeting will provide the greater value to the company in helping them to attain the goals set out to be accomplish by this meeting
4. What type of meeting will have the greatest cost/benefit ratio for the company

If you are thinking of setting up a meeting or conference at sea click on the link at the left. We will be glad to assist you and make your meeting or conference a great success.

Conference at Sea

October is the time of the year for our annual CruiseOne sales conference. This year the convention was held aboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines beautiful Pearl for a 5night cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman. The Pearl is a 93,530 ton ship designed for Freestyle Cruising with innovative amenities such as a four lane bowling alley, rock climbing wall and two very Deluxe Owners Suites each measuring over 535 sq, ft. with commanding views of the ship and the surrounding scenery.

The Pearl was built for truly free style dining that features anytime dining in 10 unique restaurants, 3 of which have an additional charge. They are Cagney’s Steak House, Blue Lagoon, and LeBistro. The free style no charge restaurants are the Summer Palace, Indigo, Lotus Garden, Mambo’s/Latin Tapas Restaurant, La Cucina Italian Restaurant and The Garden Café. We ate in Cagney’s Steak House and the tuna was spectacular, I definitely would suggest a meal at this restaurant. We also dined at the La Cucina Italian Restaurant and the seafood marinara sauce was outstanding with lots of shrimp, mussels and calamari. We enjoyed more traditional dining in the Indigo, great lamb chops were served the night we ate there, and the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is a more dress up restaurant, no jeans are allowed. The Garden Café offered a wide selection of entrees and side dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was very well presented and always looked fresh and was tasty. A big hit was the ice cream counter that served free ice cream all day and offered a wide selections of flavors

Entertainment is a great part of cruising and NCL has some of the best. They feature the Jane Ryan dancers who always put on a fabulous show. Norwegian also offers the Second City Troupe for comedy and they offer several show during the cruise.

Our first stop was Cozumel and I marveled at the improvements in this port over the years. We berthed downtown and as you walked off the pier you were close to the shopping and also near Carlos and Charlies, a hang out for many cruise passengers. The stores were very modern and offered a lot of good merchandise. We did some shopping for Christmas ornaments, didn't find any, guess we were too early.

Our next stop was Grand Cayman and as usual we had to tender into the port. With the large tenders the lines were very short and we arrived on the island very easily. This is another island that has seen many improvements over the years. They are still upgrading some of the side streets and when completed, it will be a great place to visit and shop. We were successful and found the Christmas ornaments we were looking for. Both Grand Cayman and Cozumel offer some of the best beaches for swimming and snorkeling.

Attending a conference on a ship is the way to go. The facilities and meeting rooms on the Pearl have all the audio visual equipment needed to put on a first class conference. CruiseOne had over 400 attendees on the ship and they were able to accommodate this large group for their meetings. There were several smaller meeting rooms for the break out meetings.

The classes we attended covered such topics as Luxury Cruising, Blogging, and destination cruises in the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand. Executives from all the major cruise lines gave presentation covering all their ships and destinations they sail. Each cruise line has several new ships entering their fleet over the next several years. It was interesting to note that from now till 2011 there will be 39 new ships entering into service with an additional 78,000 plus new berths. It was reported at this conference that approximately 15% of the U.S. population has taken a cruise. The addition of all these new ships will open up some new and exciting ports all over the world for passengers to visit.

The annual conference is when the sales awards for the past year are presented. We were fortunate to recive an achievement award for our cruise sales over the past year.

For more information on a meeting or conference at sea call Bill and Joan Aselage at CruiseOne, 904-278-1105 or toll free at 877-365-3159. Visit our web site at www.cruiseone.com/jaselage or e-mail us at jaselage@cruiseone.com