Silversea Cruises hosted a Christmas Lunch for members of the Irish travel industry. Hostesses Connie Georgiou (Sales Director UK, Ireland, Middle East & Africa at Silversea Cruises) and Amanda Middler (Regional Sales Manager at Silversea Cruises) detailed new offers for the trade in the form of “Commission Kickers” & “New to Repeaters” as well as the extensive product offering. Silversea offers all-inclusive ultra-luxury cruising across in excess of 900 destinations across all seven continents onboard its fleet of intimate luxury cruise ships.

Champagne & Christmas Carolling Through the Night

Champagne flowed and, as the song goes, there was “carolling through the night”. Not strangers to the mic, Mary Denton and Jackie Spain sang a note-perfect rendition of “Last Christmas”. This was followed by the queens of cruise, Caroline O’Toole and Dawn Conway taking on the queen of Christmas songs with the Mariah classic, “All I want for Christmas”.

Silversea’s Connie Georgiou & Amanda Middler

Amanda Middler welcomed the trade to “yet another Christmas lunch” though the 30-strong audience were delighted to be attending. The event provided a welcome opportunity to catch up with one another and both Amanda Middler and Connie Georgiou.

Connie took the mic, “Thank you and good afternoon everyone, I’m delighted that you can join us today… I joined the business six years ago and we had six ships. We now have 13.”.

Connie added, “We will have over 56% capacity increase in 2024 and we actually have 31% of the market in our collection. So you know you want to work with us because your customers will want to book services”.

In terms of plans for the Irish travel trade, Connie explained that “next year I promise we want to get more people onboard more of our ships because I think until you experience our product, you do not understand the service difference and we’re very proud of our product!”.

Silver Nova Joining in Summer 2023

Silver Nova will join Silversea Fleet in 2023 and will cater for 728 guests. Connie described the addition as “a game changer in ultra luxury. She is absolutely different from any other ship in that scene.”

She shared “we know we’re going to grow, we need your support. And we really want to help you, and we’re there every step of the way” and “I think you know, that with Amanda, she’ll do anything to help you get that booking over the line”.

“Commission Kickers”

To help secure those bookings, Connie explained that they have completed a sizeable review of commissions and they have “Commission Kickers” which are open for everyone.

She elaborated, “So as well as your best commission, every time you do an expedition, you’ll get an additional 1% that will be automatically added to your invoice so you don’t have to do anything and I tell you it’s now expedition is the way forward.”.

“New To Repeaters”

In addition, Connie explained there is a further opportunity to earn an additional 1% for “New to Repeaters” to incentivise the customer category that falls into the “one-and-done” space, i.e. do one Silversea Cruise and that’s it. This additional incentive is to boost repeat customers as those that return multiple times get hooked on the cruises.

“That’s an additional 1% as well as commission. It’s really trying to reward the trade and be here every step of the way to support you” concluded Connie, ending her speech with a toast to everyone and a wish for a lovely Christmas.

Remember & Reward Those that Supported the Trade

Claire Dunne spoke to the audience and thanked Connie, Amanda, everybody at Silverseas and the staff at the Morrison for the wonderful lunch. Then, with regard to the Silversea Team, she thanked them “more importantly for their support throughout the year. It’s really, really important for us to recognise the people who support us and work with us, all the time. And we have to remember that and remembering in 2023 when we’re thinking, who are we going to support?”.

She continued, “Let’s think about the people who actually stood by us the last few years during the pandemic. Who have been there day in, day out on the end of the phone, who answer their phones, who answer their emails and actually support us with actual monetary support, physical support, wellness forever and always looking after us, always at the end of the phone.”

Winning Streak for Silversea Cruises

The service that Claire commended is highlighted in their recent win of 4 Cruise Critic Editor’s Picks Awards for 2022 including, in the Luxury Category: “Best Luxury Cruise Line” and “Best Dining” while in the Expedition Category, Silversea Expeditions earned “Best for Luxury” and “Best in Antarctica”.

Door-to-Door or Port-to-Port All-Inclusive

The Silversea Cruise offering includes Port-to-Port All-Inclusive. Onboard, this includes food & beverages, butler service, shore excursions as well as expedition in-country air & hotel.

The Silversea Cruise offering also has “Door-to-Door All-Inclusive”. This consists of private executive transfers, international flights, airport transfers and onboard: food & beverages, butler service, shore excursions as well as expedition in-country air & hotel.

They are currently offering 15% refundable reduced deposit (normally 25%) through 28 February, 2023 on Door-to-Door All-Inclusive fares. For Port-to-Port fares, there are savings of up to 30% compared to Door-to-Door without air. This is available on selected sailings and the fares expire on 28 February, 2023.

Finally, the Port-to-Port Prepaid Limited-Time Wave offer gives savings of up to 20% compared to Port-to-Port. This is a non-refundable fair and needs to be paid in full. It is available on most Port-to-Port sailings. There is limited availability and sailing selection can change at any time.

To browse Silversea brochures, follow the link – https://www.silversea.com/brochures.html