Cruising On the SS Income Maximization
I recently enjoyed a very pleasant cruise with my family in the Baltic. While I enjoy the Holland America Line I have cruised with others. All are masters of the add-on, the up-sell and the re-sell. All use aggressive direct mail, value added bonus gifts and loyalty programs. In fact one of the main reasons for the massive growth of the cruise industry over the last decade is the fact that they have out marketed many of the other vacation options, (including golf resorts) pure and simple. What really impresses me is not the ships the food or the service but the tireless way in which they develop and market their multiple streams of revenue! While of course the cruise lines have the added advantage of a truly captive audience there is much that all businesses could learn from the cruise industry’s fat burner concerted efforts to get their passengers to part with the maximum amount of money, in the shortest possible amount of time! There are of course up-sells for the ships tours at each port of call. All with very impressive mark ups over what you can do on your own. (In many cases hiring a private car, driver and guide were cheaper than putting my family of four on the tour bus!) While most food is included, you can for a small fee, (usually twenty dollars a head) upgrade to a special dining room. Which was always busy despite, as far as I could tell, serving the same menu anyway! Either way you pay and pay well for wine and wine packages at dinner. Buy five bottles for X, seven for Y and the choice selection of 10 for Z! Drinks are an up sell 24/7 and of course there is always a daily drinks special.