If you are contemplating planning a cruise for your next corporate or incentive travel event, you may be surprised to find that chartering a ship could be a more appropriate option than booking reservations on a cruise ship containing unaffiliated passengers. A ship charter may or may not be, depending on a number of considerations. First of all, know your options. When chartering a ship, you often can choose between group, half-ship and full-ship charter options. Full ship charters obviously allow for the greatest freedom, customization, exclusivity and prestige, while group-level charters will likely be most cost-effective. Each of these options comes with pros and cons; however, they all offer distinct benefits for those determine that chartering a ship is their best option.
In order for chartering a ship for your next cruise event to be a good idea, you will need to have a solid headcount of attendees, a good understanding of your meeting space needs and the resources to make a significant financial commitment upfront, generally guaranteed by a letter of credit. Once these things are in place, your next task is finding the perfect ship to fit your event needs. This will need to include appropriately-sized meeting spaces, overall costs that are within your planning budget, a suitable destination and an overall quality that suits the level of service and prestige required by your event.
