“Celebrity Cruises is planning to host three seminars in Ireland during 2017 and Celebrity Silhouette will be visiting Belfast, Dublin, Waterford and Cork in the summer,” Jo Rzymowska, Managing Director UK & Ireland, told ITTN’s Neil Steedman on a recent visit to Dublin. “We held Irish fam trips onboard Celebrity Reflection and Celebrity Constellation last year and we will be hosting more fams for Irish agents this year.
“Last year was a significant one for the Celebrity brand overall, and a strong year in Ireland despite events in Europe, and we expect 2017 to be equally strong, with bookings to date exceeding our targets. Ex-Dubai cruises to India are particularly popular in the Irish market, as well as our cruises from Barcelona, Rome, Venice and the Caribbean ex-Miami – about which we are in talks with Aer Lingus.
“We have a strong team in Ireland with Lorraine Quinn as Business Development Manager supported by Mandy Burrie, Regional Sales Manager, Scotland & Ireland; Drew Bolton, Senior Account Manager, UK North & Ireland; and Gerard Nolan, Head of Revenue & Product, UK & Ireland. We work with all agents throughout Ireland, of course, and have strong partnerships with six in the Republic and three in Northern Ireland.
“We are now in the third year of our Celebrity Rewards incentive that gives agents the opportunity to earn points for every booking and to receive rewards in return, including cruises. The scheme is also integrated with our e-learning programme.
“Our free drinks or perks campaign and €99 flights are being well received and all the trade are getting involved in our extensive social media activity.
New Ships
“The first of our new Edge Class ships, Celebrity Edge, will be delivered in late 2018 and will bring cruising to a new level and will be followed by Celebrity Beyond in spring 2020 and the third and fourth Edge Class ships in autumn 2021 and autumn 2022 respectively.
“We will be revealing details throughout 2017 and 2018, offering glances of what’s to come in the future of cruising.
Dublin 2018 Home Port
“It is early days yet, but we are already seeing a lot of interest in our summer 2018 cruises with Celebrity Eclipse using Dublin as home port, and these will carry 15,000 passengers and bring €6 million to Dublin.
“North Americans will be the largest market for these cruises and a North American team from Celebrity is visiting Dublin this month to examine the options as regards check-in facilities, including the possibility of one at Dublin Airport. Dublin Port also has several options and we are confident that the Celebrity high standards will be met.
A Cruise for Everybody
“Our focus in Celebrity Cruises is attention to detail and we know that there is a cruise to suit everybody – our job, and that of agents, is to sell that idea and to ask the right questions to find the right answers.
“Irish agents have become a lot better at this in recent years, but they need to keep in mind that the key to up-selling is to clearly explain all the benefits to clients.”
