DESTINATIONS FLORIDA | THE US
PICTURED FROM FAR LEFT: (top) Celebrity Beyond; agents enjoy an airboat ride in Kissimmee; Cruise118’s Katie Longstaff reads her favourite trade magazine on Florida’s Brightline train; Harden Holidays’ Tim Harden fulfils a photo stop at Sunset Walk, Kissimmee; Encore resort at Reunion; Cruise1st’s Sam Griffiths in Icon of the Seas’ Izumi restaurant; the agents with Virgin Atlantic staff at Manchester’s private Aether terminal; Hays Travel’s Lavinia Chew poses with Duelling Pianos staff PICTURE: Greg Wilson; KT Watson; Rhodri Andrews; Blue Juice
First up was Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, which launched in 2022 and is the world’s biggest cruise ship. Many of the participants knew of Icon already, but Agent Unknown’s tasks were designed to ensure they not only visited key places on the ship, but also used some creative thinking to showcase it at its best. That’s what prompted Lavinia
Chew from Hays Travel to get the staff from the Duelling Pianos bar involved in her photo challenge, while Sam Griffiths from Cruise1st snacked on Japanese food at the ship’s Izumi restaurant for his. Once the tasks were ticked off,
there was downtime at Thrill Island, with some of the agents choosing to sip Miami Vice cocktails in the pool while others took on the slides of its water park, Category 6.
ABOVE AND BEYOND As the Destination Unknown trip drew to a close, the agents had one final heat to play – on Celebrity Beyond. Compared with the family
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fun on board Icon, Beyond offered a more laid-back vibe – something welcomed by the energy-sapped agents in their final push for points. Agent Unknown had one last trick up its sleeve, however, with a series of anagrams and photo challenges to keep the agents’ creative juices flowing. As ever, they were up to the task, with Gemma Larder from
Cruise.co.uk capturing pictures in a hammock chair at the oasis-like Eden bar and a trio of agents photographing themselves in one of the ship’s champagne coupe-shaped hot tubs. The agents spent their last night enjoying the delicious Asian food of KYU Miami. And as everyone realised this was their last chance to climb the leaderboard, the excitement was higher than ever. Yet as keen as the competition had been, everyone was cheering for each other as well as themselves – a sign that no matter the outcome of this epic Destination Unknown adventure, they all considered themselves winners. TW
how to Make cruise-and-stay pay
Sarah Graham, senior account manager, Virgin Atlantic “Cruise-and-stay holidays give customers the best of both worlds: excellent experiences on land and luxury at sea – with us in the sky delivering the magic every step of the way. It’s the kind of holiday that ticks every
box. With the tools, training and the Sky High Club rewards programme, agents have everything they need to seal the deal.”
Matt Stuart, strategic account manager, Celebrity Cruises “It’s a fantastic way to add value to a trip. We know there are customers who don’t want to choose one or the other, so combining land and sea into a longer itinerary really makes sense. They get local cultural
immersion, then you get all the curated packages, shore excursions and onboard entertainment with us on one of our award-winning cruises.”
Aaron Langford, senior sales director, UK and Ireland, Royal Caribbean International “Cruise-and-stay holidays are an excellent way to attract new-to-cruise holidaymakers. For example, we know millions of UK families want to travel to Orlando for the theme parks, so a cruise is the
perfect way to build on this, whether it’s aboard our Utopia of the Seas ship or upcoming Icon Class vesselStar of the Seas.”
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