Cruises, Inc. assures plain sailing with Internet-based reservation system

Capitalizing on a wave of interest in cruises and the availability of Internet-based reservation software, Cruises, Inc., headquartered in Syracuse, has made a $1 million-plus investment in new technology that uses the Sabre travel-reservation system and a travel information Web site called Travelocity.

The Sabre travel-reservation system controls about 40 percent of all airline reservations in the United States, and a big chunk of sales globally. Travelocity is the largest and most used travel-information site on the World Wide Web. Travel agents have been using the Sabre system and the Travelocity Web site for years. Until now, however, the Sabre reservation system did not include cruises, and cruise information on the Travelocity site was sketchy. That has changed with the creation of Sabre's new Cruise Director software, which enables travel agents to enter reservations directly into the cruise lines' reservation system. This application was recently licensed to Cruises, Inc., a 16-year-old Syracuse-based agency specializing only in cruises. Cruises, Inc. has also secured an exclusive contract to offer cruises and cruise information on the Travelocity Web site.

A link from the Travelocity site connects potential customers to Cruises, Inc.'s own Web site. From there they can get information on the sales consultants in their area, as well as about the cruises themselves. Eventually, says Bob Falcone, the company's president, he has plans to include virtual walk-throughs of selected cruise ships on the Web site.

Why do customers need a sales consultant to book their cruise? Because there's much more to choosing the right cruise than simply the price. Choosing a cruise has the same level of complexity as planning other vacation options, according to Falcone.

Depending on your Personality, and budget, you could book yourself on a cruise that offers an amusement park at sea, or something less campy, with candlelit meals and impeccable service and a little soft jazz in the evening. Or you might fancy some on-board Las Vegas-style entertainment. A touch of Broadway, perhaps, Or you may want a cruise catering specifically to couples--or just to singles. The market for cruises now caters to customers of almost any inclination.

On-line cruise reservations greatly simplify the booking process, according to Falcone. At the moment, he says, there are about half a million travel agents in the U.S., working out of some 36,000 agencies. "It's hard to imagine," he says, "but all of them booked cruises by phone and fax until now." Compared to Internet-based bookings, the telephone is an inefficient means of making reservations Anyone familiar with voice mail and holding for the next available operator can attest to its drawbacks. Sabre Cruise Director also eliminates the need to fax reservations back and forth, because it registers the reservations directly into the cruise lines' computers. Being on-line puts more power in agents' hands," according to Daniell Minckler, computer department supervisor.

Cruises, Inc. and its sales force of about 200 field-based travel consultants have a somewhat unusual relationship in that the consultants are independent contractors, not employees of the company. Cruises, Inc. has paid Sabre to set up terminal addresses for about half of them, with plans to include the rest soon. The nature of the relationship between Cruises, Inc. and its sales consultants posed special challenges in terms of setting up the software, says Minckler.

Because the sales consultants are spread out across the U.S., Minckler explains, it would have been too expensive for them to link with the Syracuse office every time a sale needed to be recorded. For that reason, the Cruise Director software is being run directly over the Internet. Sales consultants need only dial their local Internet Service Provider to connect with the reservation system and with the Syracuse office. Consultants can be on-line for as long as they want for nothing more than the price of their Internet connection. Minckler feared, at first, that the software would run too slowly over the Internet. But he tried it out with a 28.8-bps modem from his home connected to Cruises, Inc.'s network, which uses a high-speed ISDN line. "It turned out to be very fast," he says.

Booking a cruise ought to be plain sailing. And for the most part it is, except that not many travel consultants are well-enough inform about the myriad cruise options that are available. Additionally, most travel agents have to deal with all aspects of the reservation process--from advising the client to completing the paperwork. And too, most travel agents need to know a whole lot more than just cruises.

Cruises, Inc.'s sales consultants focus only on one task--steering clients toward the right cruise. The head office in Syracuse handles all the paperwork and billing. Cruises, Inc. has also developed and put in place a system for simplifying the clerical aspects of booking a cruise. "We helped create a product in which the reservation system would connect with the back-office system, which includes accounting, company reports and ticketing process evaluation," Falcone says.

A lifelong cruise enthusiast, Falcone started Cruises, loc. because his experience suggested to him that travel agents weren't too well informed about cruises. Specializing in cruises gives his company an edge in that particular market, because the cruise market alone has such a wide array of offerings. In addition to specializing in cruises, Falcone has also been gathering data about cruise customers and the quality of the many cruise lines.

Cruises, Inc. maintains a large database of cruise customers' evaluations, the only database of its kind. Frommer's travel guides relies on Cruis, Inc.'s data to rate satisfaction levels among cruise lines. This information is used to provide objective criteria on which customers can base their decision.

Cruises, Inc. employs 63 staff members, including computer technicians and in-house travel consultants. The company does about $45 million worth of business annually, selling cruises to about 38,000 revelers. According to Falcone, Internet reservations will increase sales, but he cannot predict by how much. But he is optimistic, based on the fact that his company is well positioned in a market that is growing overall.

About six percent of tourists take cruise vacations, Falcone says, and this percentage will likely now with the passage of time and the introduction of more cruise-vacation options. He notes that cruise lines are making large investments in new ships, adding that 25 large new cruise ships will be put in service by the year 2000. The cruise industry looks like it has a rosy future," Falcone concludes.

Copyright Central New York Business Journal Jan 20, 1997
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