Good fortune R
Royal Caribbean fam: Cruise line hosts 10 agent winners of its ‘Fortune Awaits’ competition in East Asia. Lucy Huxley, who joined them, finds out what they learnt
oyal Caribbean has hosted 10 agents in East Asia after they won the cruise line’s Fortune
Awaits competition, organised in collaboration with Travel Weekly. They spent two nights in Shanghai before boarding Royal’s Spectrum of the Seas and sailing to Okinawa in Japan and back. Travel Weekly editor-in-chief
Lucy Huxley joined the trip and asked the agents about their experience and the opportunities it presents for their customers during a roundtable discussion, which also featured Royal Caribbean’s Ben Bouldin and Ruth Gardiner. The winning agents were Sam
Griffiths from Cruise1st, Zoe Toogood from Fred Olsen Travel, Lisa Harrold from Murray Travel, Caitlin O’Neill from Travelbag, Laura Harvey
10 30 OCTOBER 2025
from Holiday Elite, Kieran Eccles-Miller from Magical Traveller, James Barker from Iglu, Gemma Webster from Bolsover Cruise Club, Megan Carter from Sandy Lane Travel and Peter Kisbee from Tui. Here’s what they had to say about the experience.
Travelling to China/East Asia Lisa: “I was worried about how to pay for things in China, the need for a VPN, my phone not working. But actually, I managed to get it all sorted and it was very easy. There was a level of preparation required, such as downloading the Alipay app, but it was easy to set up and to use.” Kieran: “I’m a hyper-obsessed planner and I really struggled to mentally prepare myself. The biggest learning for me is that it’s not been as intimidating as I thought it would be. I’ve just had to let go of my obsession
with having to know how everything works and trust the fact it does work, just differently to what we might be used to. And it’s not as different as you think; it’s just different apps and a different way of thinking here. But I’m completely converted.” Sam: “The biggest surprise has been the food. I thought it might not be suitable for a Western palette, but it’s been great.” Laura: “I’d never done any long-haul travel. So it has been amazing to come here and find how easy it is and how welcome you are, despite being in a completely different time zone with a different language, and with all these apps I downloaded but didn’t understand. It was far from the daunting experience I’d feared.” Caitlin: “I’d always wanted to see China, but because of the visa situation, I thought I’d have to do it
in the first instance as a big trip with a visa. But with the transit visa, you can do it in a smaller bite – have a city stay and then see key sites on a cruise.” James: “I think this reinforces the importance of the pre-cruise stay, so you’re not just getting off a flight and straight onto the ship. Having a couple of days in Shanghai to eat the food, get around, relax and adapt to the time zone is a good idea.” Ruth: “And if you want to do things like Shanghai Disney or the Shanghai Masters tennis, then you do need two or three days before you board.”
Excursions Zoe: “I’ve been to Shanghai and Japan before and found it really daunting – I couldn’t understand the signs or the menus. But having the Wendy Wu Tour guides tied in with Royal for our first day in
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