For planners who want to learn more about what the cruise industry offers meetings and incentives—or who want to take a stab at organizing a cruise program of their own—there’s Seasite.com, the first online platform focused on the cruise meetings market.
The site, which is supported by cruise line marketing partners that include Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival, Regent, Silver Seas, Celebrity, MSC. SeaDream and Sea Cloud, is the brainchild of Landry & Kling, a Miami-based company that has provided cruise meeting services since 1982.
"We launched Seasite because we saw a need for a sourcing tool for meeting planners, given the huge growth in cruise ships and the number of cruise lines serving the meetings market," says Josephine Kling, CEO of Seasite.com. "We used to remember everything off the top of our heads, but now there are so many new products—a lot more itineraries, many more five- to seven-night cruises, more destinations and a lot more meeting facilities on board ships."
Providing detailed information on over 250 ships representing 35 cruise brands, Seasite provides meetings-oriented search criteria in areas such as charter information, meeting room capacities, outdoor event space, group dining, audiovisual, conference services, onboard amenities and more.
An online RFP feature enables users to get comparison pricing from multiple cruise lines, including information on costs such as port charges and gratuities. The site also enables users to get cost comparisons between a cruise and a comparable hotel program.
Seasite users can plan their own programs or, if needed, get assistance from a staff of Cruise Advisors available by chat, phone or e-mail.
