Virtuoso recently hosted four Cruise Ship Tour events in Canada in collaboration with Viking, Silversea, Seabourn, and Cunard.
The program, which featured private tours in Vancouver exclusively for the network’s Canadian advisors, is set to continue throughout 2024 and beyond. Future events are planned at various ports across Canada, including Halifax, Toronto, Montréal, and Quebec City.
“Experiencing a luxury cruise line firsthand provides a deeper understanding than one can get from a brochure or online,” said Virtuoso's GM of Canada, Úna O’Leary.
“By offering Virtuoso advisors exclusive access to our preferred cruise lines, they can learn, explore and gather invaluable information that can then be shared with their clients. We sincerely appreciate working with Viking, Silversea, Seabourn and Cunard to create these private, memorable experiences that will ensure our advisors are matching their clients with the best possible cruise experience for them.”
This past May, 20 Virtuoso advisors met with Kim Tobias, Viking’s sales director for Western Canada, aboard the Viking Orion ship.
“It was a pleasure hosting the first Virtuoso dedicated ship inspection post-Covid in Vancouver,” said Tobias. “It was a great opportunity to showcase the Orion while she begins her Alaska season sailing the inside passage from Vancouver to Seaward. We were happy to share the modern Scandinavian design of the small ship that can host 930 guests onboard.”
In June, 23 Virtuoso advisors, agency owners, and managers were joined by Virtuoso chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch, SVP of Global Member & Partner Sales Cory Hagopian aboard the Silversea Silver Nova.
The group met with Jose Santiago, Silversea’s senior manager of national accounts, who said, “Since the Silver Nova is a new ship, most of the advisors were seeing it for the first time. We consider these types of site inspections very valuable to us, as well as to the advisor. Through these tours they can learn about the brand, the on-board experience, the suites each vessel has to offer and more. We were also happy to host the group for lunch to experience our cuisine and stellar service.”
This month, advisors boarded the Cunard Queen Elizabeth and Seabourn Odyssey ships.
Jessyca Georgison of Renshaw Travel said, “As part of the Virtuoso network, these opportunities to view the ships firsthand is an invaluable experience for us as advisors. To be able to share with clients that we have seen the ship in person, our own photos, small details about the cabins and amenities, as well as our experience with dining, really helps set us apart. It also ensures our clients know we are able to confidently recommend a cruise line in a way we wouldn’t be able to otherwise.”
Virtuoso will continue to offer Cruise Ship Tours exclusively for the network's Canadian advisors in Eastern Canada over the next few months.
