Destinations, the Bahamas largest travel agency, is set to host its second annual Cruisefest, bringing together their travel agents, representatives from leading cruise lines and Bahamians interested in the fastest growing area of leisure travel. Last year’s event drew a crowd of more than 3,000, and organisers expect this year’s event, scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino, to be an even bigger success.
Twelve major cruise lines ﾗ Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Seabourn, Cunard, Silversea, Celebrity, Bahamas Fast Ferries, Orient Lines, Star Cruises, Sea Link and Princess Cruise Lines ﾗ have confirmed their participation this year.
Local vendors, including JS Johnson Insurance Agents & Brokers, American Eagle and American Airlines, First Caribbean International Bank, Bahamasair, Brass & Leather, Wholesale Wines and Spirits, Caribbean Bottling and Bahamas Wholesale Agencies are also scheduled to participate in Destinations Cruisefest 2003.
With so many new cruising options available for Bahamians to choose from, Rosa Knowles, Destinations cruise specialist considers a trade show the perfect environment to ensure that people end up booking the kind of cruise that’s best for them.
“I think a lot of people had been thinking about cruising, but didn’t really know how to go about it. Basically, before now, it’s been like word of mouth. Whatever your friends did and however they planned their cruise vacation was the way that people did things. Now there’s so many options out there, every cruise experience is different. It really depends on what you want out of the experience,” she explained.
Mrs Knowles said that because cruising is one of the most economical types of vacation packages available, cruising continues to grow in popularity despite the fact that Bahamians are faced with a softening economy and uncertain future.
“People still need to break away from reality, and breaking away from reality is beneficial to everyone because there are so many other issues in the world. Cruising has become very big for that reason. You get pampered, you get the service that you expect on a vacation, it’s 90 percent certain you’re going to have an absolutely fantastic time,” she said.
According to Diana Wallace of Destinations Mall at Marathon, besides creating an environment where people can learn more about cruising and the various cruising options available, Cruisefest 2003 will offer special prices and prizes.
“You’re going to have a lot of deals and discounts that are going to be available on that day and maybe for the week beyond ﾗ like say if you’re booking from the 22nd to 28th, we’ll have double upgrades. Then, who knows what the cruise companies are going to come up with. They might come and say “hey look, we didn’t expect all these people, we didn’t expect to get this sort of turn out,” on the spot they might give some sort of discount. We just don’t know, you’ll just have to come down and be a part of it to find out,” she said.
This year’s Destinations Cruisefest will include an exciting game ﾗ Cruisefest Quest. On Friday, game cards will be handed out to drivers and pedestrians throughout New Providence, and during the day, trivia questions will be asked on Love 97 and 100 JAMZ. Participants will have to make their way to Cruisefest 2003 on Saturday in order to find out the final trivia question and enter the contest. One winner will receive a cruise for four onboard Carnival Cruise lines.
Throughout Saturday’s event, Destinations will be giving out many more exciting cruise-related prizes.
