I'm a River Cruise Champion!

It is no secret that I love cruising and that I sell a lot of cruise holidays. I love finding out more about my clients to discover what cruise line, cruise ship, and itinerary will suit them. Just last week some clients who were first time cruisers disembarked their cruise They approached me as it had been a dream of theirs to cruise, but were overwhelmed by the options out there and wanted someone to advise and take the stress out of it. They now appear to be hooked on cruising!

However, my experience, both of sailing and selling, has been of ocean cruising. There is a whole other world of cruising out there: river cruising. To be honest, most people don’t think of river when they think of cruising, but I knew that it was something I needed to become more familiar with – and experience if possible.

So, in September 2024 when CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) announced that there were launching a brand new six month River Cruise Champion Programme, I leapt at the chance to apply. Only 32 applicants from across the travel agent industry were invited to join, and I was lucky enough to be offered a place.

Following an in-person launch event in London on 20 November, it has been an intensive 6 months, with webinars every couple of weeks, monthly self-study tasks, monthly quizzes, and a final assessment. But it has been so worth it.

On Thursday last week, we had our ‘Graduation’ event in Birmingham to celebrate what we have achieved on the course.

So what have I learnt and how can this help you? I had webinars with all of the river cruise lines that sell to the UK market. These were invaluable as part of the skill of my job is matching you to the right cruise line. Yes, this is one reason to use me rather than an online booking site: the site won’t know if a cruise is the right match for you! So I learnt about what each line offers, which rivers they sail on, what their ships are like, the type of excursions available, different cabin types, and what is included in your fare.

I also had sessions on why river cruise would be right for you. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions around river cruising which means that it is just not a holiday option that people consider. Check out an article I wrote back in March about this - https://www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/helen.maltby/Iwanttogoawaybutdontknowwhere

In March this year Travel Counsellors gave me the opportunity to go to Paris and spend two nights on Uniworld’s Joie de Vivre ship. This allowed me to experience the ship, the service on board, and even one of their excursions.

All of this has made me so much more confident to recommend river cruising as a holiday option.

So if you want to do a river cruise, or are just curious about them and want to know more, then get in touch with me.