Day 2 of our Meeting at Sea
Today we were docked in Ensenada, Mexico for the day. This is a port located 70 miles south of the border. While I am sure this is a wonderful port, I spent the day taking part in our first full day of a meeting at sea.
I was up early enough to enjoy a good breakfast and work on writing the blog entry I posted yesterday. I am a Diamond member for Royal Caribbean and, on this ship they have a private section of the dining room reserved for breakfast. It was a wonderful spot to enjoy breakfast and work on my writing.
Just after I finished writing, I was joined by one of the speakers at our conference this week. It was a great chance to get some one on one time sharing ideas and catching up face to face with a good friend. Such random occurrences are exactly what can happen when you host a meeting at sea.
Our day consisted of a general session in the theatre where a very high level rolling out of some exciting new features were announced including the ability to book international air and access to 85,000+ hotels. These were met with huge enthusiasm as this will further enhance our ability to service our cruise clients. We also had two of our vendors give presentations as well as a motivational speech from a well-known speaker.
Before we were released for the day, we gathered on the ship’s bow for a group photo. The rest of our day was on our own. I happened to use it for one on one meetings with other owners to learn what is and is not working for them.
Our day ended with a cocktail party and awards presentation for several of the top stores within the system. This was sponsored by one of the sponsors of this convention. From there, we went to dinner where we made an effort to sit at a different able in our section. This “round robin” seating style forces everyone to get out of their comfort zone, get to know people outside of their better friends and spend more time learning from others.
After a few hours at the casino, where I am up $50 for the two days, it was time to sleep. A gift had been left in my stateroom as this is one of the other abilities you can have when you host your meeting at sea.
Upon wake-up, I opened my door to find a news letter printed by the on-board staff from Cruise Holidays’ management team. Featured in this issue, which is delivered daily, were pictures from the awards presentation and a schedule of the day to come.
I headed to the buffet for breakfast and was sitting alone working on this blog and I was joined by a representative from Princess Cruises. It was a perfect opportunity to learn more about the brand she represents and how we can partner together to get more people on Princess Cruises. I will share more about what I learned from her later.
I need to get this blog uploaded and then off for the day’s events
Visit www.theflaggagency.com when you are ready to hold your next meeting at sea!
