Sell and Sail: How to Sell Cruises
Sell cruises from home most of the year, and learn the product on board when the trade invites you.
Start Selling CruisesSell, Then Sail: How the Cruise Seller’s Year Works
Learning how to sell cruises is mostly learning a routine: conversations with clients, quotes, follow-ups and bookings, done from a home office for most of the year. The “sail” part is real too. The cruise trade invites agents on board to learn — on FAM trips, ship inspections, seminars at sea and reduced agent-rate sailings — because a seller who has stood on the deck sells that ship better.
Sell and Sail is about living both halves well. It explains the selling side in practical terms and the sailing side honestly: what those agent trips are, who qualifies, what they cost you in time and expectations, and why they are a tool for selling rather than a free holiday.
How to sell a cruise
The conversation, step by step: discovery questions, a short list, value over price, and the follow-up.
The sales steps →
Sell cruises from home
Setting up the home office, the weekly rhythm, the tools and the rules to check.
Home-office guide →
Travel agent FAM trips
Familiarization trips explained: who runs them, who qualifies and what is expected of you.
About FAM trips →
How to Sell Cruises: The Short Version
- Pick a lane. Families, luxury, Alaska, groups, first-time cruisers — a focus makes every other step easier.
- Learn the lines that fit it. Two or three cruise lines known well beat ten known badly. Cruise Agent University maps the training.
- Ask before you quote. Budget, dates, who is travelling, what a great trip looks like to them.
- Offer a short list. Two or three options, with the reason each fits.
- Follow up and stay in touch. Most cruise business is repeat and referral business.
The longer version, with the questions to ask and the mistakes to avoid, is on how to sell a cruise.
The Sailing Side, Honestly
Agent trips are earned, not handed out. Suppliers usually want to see that you are an active, credentialed seller, and many expect something in return: attending sessions, touring cabins, posting about what you saw or booking clients afterwards. Treat every trip as a working trip and you will be invited back.
The payoff is knowledge you cannot get from a brochure: how long the walk is from the far end of a deck to the main dining room, which pool fills first on a sea day, what a port looks like when three ships arrive at once. Clients hear that difference.
- Travel agent FAM trips — hosted trips by lines, resorts and tourism boards.
- Seminar at sea — training sailings run by cruise lines and industry groups.
- FAM rates for travel agents — reduced agent fares and the credentials suppliers ask for.
Sell and Sail: First Questions
Can I really sell cruises and travel on cruises as part of the job?
Selling comes first. The trade does offer agents ways to learn on board — FAM trips, seminars at sea and reduced agent rates — but they come with eligibility rules, and suppliers expect them to support your selling, not replace it.
Do I need experience to start?
No travel-industry background is required to begin. You do need somewhere to book from and be paid, which for most new sellers is a host agency, plus training on the lines you sell.
How much will I earn?
We make no income claims. Results depend on the hours you put in, the clients you reach and the business you build.
Start on the Selling Side
Everything on the sailing side depends on being an active seller. Be a Travel Agent sets new sellers up with a host agency, training and support, with a part-time path for people starting alongside another job. Cruise Selling explains why cruises make a good specialty, and Master Cruise Counselor shows where a cruise career can lead.
Sell and Sail is part of the Smart Traveler network, led by Mister Cruise. He has sold travel since 1972 and worked full-time in the industry since 1977. He has sold or originated more than $500 million in cruises and has trained more than 500 travel agents.
If you want to sell cruises with his team, begin at Be a Travel Agent. Meet Mister Cruise →
Sell First. The Sailing Follows.
Be a Travel Agent helps new and part-time sellers get set up to sell cruises from home.
Become a Travel Agent