Cruises are Not Just for Vacations

Cruises are Not Just for Vacations

When a destination doesn't have enough hotel rooms for a special event, cruise ships can play a vital role. 

Cruise Ship Event Advantages

Meetings and conventions held in hotels can be expensive and most only provide ballroom space, with everything else like staging platforms, sound and stage lighting, tables and chairs, and food having to be rented. These extras can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cruise ships come with state-of-the-art theaters with seating, huge AV screens, full sound systems, stages with turntables, trap doors, and even orchestra pits -- all included in a cruise ship charter. Ships can also sleep and feed thousands of people, with no extra charge for the meals.

Smaller “breakout” rooms are also available--Liberty of the Seas, for example has four separate conference rooms which combined can seat 369 people.

Clients don’t have to charter an entire ship. Some planners only book a partial percentage of staterooms, but they can still coordinate their group's events to work alongside the regularly-scheduled cruise events. They also have access to the theaters and meeting rooms, when available. Some ships are better suited for partial charters, for example, many ships have specialty restaurants that are the perfect size for special events and dinners.

Clients can charter a full cruise ship so that they get control of the shipboard activities; even the ports of call can be hand-selected in cooperation with the cruise line. Clients can use all of the entertainment facilities, add 24-hour programming to the stateroom televisions and arrange special mealtime and after hours events. They can also schedule events to work together and even last minute changes are not a problem. The ship's staff will print up and deliver daily programs, gifts and special notices, and with all the attendees staying on the ship there are no transportation issues.

Incentive Travel on Cruise Ships

Companies that want to reward their best employees have found travel to be a great incentive. An incentive cruise can provide a family vacation, but the employees can be available for company meetings while the cruise ship provides regular activities for spouses and kids. Plus, a cruise gives the employee bragging rights while a ‘Salesman of the Year’ trophy on the mantle doesn’t really impress his friends.

There is one drawback to corporate events on cruise ships: meetings on foreign-flagged cruise ships are not tax deductible as a business expense. However; what you save is more important than what you can deduct. Only one major cruise ship, NCL’s Pride of America, is American-flagged. There is also the newer American Cruise Line, with smaller boats on the Mississippi, Delaware and Columbia Rivers. Air travel to the ships is usually deductible.