Inside My Cruises’ Middle East Task Force – how travel agents are getting guests to their ships

• This weekend, Smartraveller stepped up its warnings about the Middle Eastern conflict as the region’s airlines were largely grounded.
• Despite the troubles, Australia’s travel agents are working round the clock to get cruisers to their ships.
• Editor-in-Chief Peter Lynch talks to My Cruises Michael Middleton about the logistical battle being fought around the country.

Michael Middleton arrives at our interview a little late. The global head of cruise at My Cruises has just stepped out of what he describes as a “task-force meeting” at the company’s Queensland offices — a scramble to get around 70 Australians to their Avalon river cruise in Europe next month.

The travellers booked their holidays 18 months ago. But conflict in the Middle East has thrown flight schedules into chaos, forcing airlines to reroute or cancel services that many cruise passengers rely on to reach Europe.

Middleton and his team are now working through the puzzle piece by piece.

“About 60 of them were ticketed on Qatar and Emirates,” he explains. “We’re just trying to work through alternatives. Some people are flying via the US to get to Europe because that still seems to be an option.”

It’s a logistical challenge that neatly illustrates the value of booking through a cruise specialist rather than trying to assemble a complex itinerary alone.

My Cruises has temporarily pulled about 15 staff out of their normal roles to handle the issue.

“We’ve established almost a bit of a task force,” Middleton says. “They’re literally working departure by departure as information comes in — adjusting bookings, talking to airlines, cruise lines and hotels.”

Some travellers have opted to delay their trip for a year, but most are determined to go.

“Our average booking window is about 18 months,” Middleton says. “When someone has been waiting that long for an incredible holiday, most of them are saying, ‘No, we still want to travel.’”

He goes on: “We’ve got people dedicated to sorting the air, others working with cruise lines and tour operators, and others dealing with hotels and local operators.

“It’s one team pulling all those pieces of the puzzle together to give the customer a solution. Otherwise you’d be trying to manage all those parts yourself — and it’s stressful.”

This weekend, Smartraveller, the federal government’s site advising Aussie holidaymakers, increased its warnings about the Middle East, suggesting the conflict could go on for longer than most thought. Middleton’s Task Force is likely to be in session for some time to come.

My Cruises ‘cruise holidays in a box’

This all comes at an interesting time for My Cruises, which has just won two major honours at the CLIA Cruise Industry Awards, including the coveted Cruise Agency of the Year.

For Middleton, the awards underline how far the brand has come.

“I think there are a few things,” he says. “Number one, we’ve got a team of passionate cruise people. We live and breathe cruise all day, every day. From the leadership team down to the consultants, it’s in our blood.”

That passion is reinforced through training programs like the company’s Cruise Academy, which brings new consultants into the business and immerses them in cruise knowledge.

“We’re actually attracting a lot of people who are cruisers themselves and want to sell cruise as a career,” Middleton says.

Equally important are partnerships with cruise lines. “We look at them as partners, not suppliers,” he explains. “We’re always looking at how we can help them and what’s next, rather than just waiting for them to come to us with campaigns.”

But perhaps the most important part of the My Cruises formula is the product itself.

Rather than selling cruise alone, the company packages complete holidays — what Middleton calls a “cruise holiday in a box”.

“A customer can see a 21-day Europe holiday with a 14-day Mediterranean cruise — but it also includes things like a Milan city stay, a Lake Como day trip, trains to Rome,” he says.

“We’re removing that complexity for the customer. They can take something off the shelf that we believe is the best version of that holiday.”

That approach has also helped My Cruises attract a significant number of first-time cruisers.

“Our ads don’t lead with a big white ship,” Middleton says. “You’ll see iconic places like Santorini or Rome as the hero image. Someone might say, ‘I’ve always wanted to go there.’ Then they realise the holiday includes a cruise and it becomes incredible value.”

Explorations by Norwegian

It’s a marketing strategy that is paying off — and it has also led to My Cruises’ second CLIA award: Cruise Promotion of the Year for Explorations by Norwegian.

The initiative represents one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by an Australian cruise agency.

My Cruises has effectively chartered the Oceania Regatta for a year-long global voyage, creating its own itineraries and packaging them for Australian travellers.

“It was about listening to the customer,” Middleton says. He explains that many Australians want to travel further and deeper than the traditional cruise itineraries allow. “Most cruise lines have global deployments and they need to focus on markets like the Caribbean,” he says. “But Australian travellers have an insatiable appetite for exploring the world.”

Explorations by Norwegian was designed to answer that demand. The project blends the best elements of ocean cruising, river cruising and expedition travel into one sweeping itinerary.

“It’s really the next evolution of the business,” Middleton says.

The latest sailing — the company’s second world cruise — is a remarkable 361-day journey around the globe.

Only a small number of travellers will complete the entire voyage.

“You might end up with 20 or 30 people doing the full year,” Middleton says. “But most people will book specific regions.”

That’s where the concept becomes particularly compelling.

One popular segment is a 54-day ‘Ultimate Europe’ itinerary from Rome to London.

“It includes Croatia, the Greek islands, the Western Mediterranean, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Baltics and finishes with Norway,” Middleton says.

“When that first went on sale it started from about $24,990 including flights and accommodation — and we’ve got more than 200 people doing that sailing.”

Other travellers are combining iconic experiences.

“We have people doing the Panama Canal and then adding a 20-day Amazon voyage,” Middleton says. “They think, ‘If I’m going all the way there, I want to see as much as possible.’”

The itineraries reflect a growing trend among Australian travellers for longer, deeper journeys.

Many passengers are retired or semi-retired and keen to explore entire regions rather than ticking off a single destination.

“People are saying, ‘I’ll take four or five weeks and really explore a destination properly,’” Middleton says.

Because My Cruises controls the charter, it can also shape the onboard experience to suit Australian tastes.

The company has been working closely with Oceania’s teams on everything from entertainment to dining.

“We even talk about things like comfort food,” Middleton laughs. “Sometimes Australians just want a chicken parmigiana when they’re away from home.”

Beyond the world cruise concept, My Cruises is also building more complex itineraries that combine ocean and river cruising.

One example is a 45-day journey that begins with an Explorations sailing from London to Istanbul before connecting to a river cruise from Bucharest to Amsterdam.

“It’s about presenting something that makes sense,” Middleton says. “Customers might not have thought of it themselves, but when they see it they think — yes, that’s exactly what I want to do.”

The company is also expanding into expedition cruising and luxury voyages as its customer base matures.

“We see customers evolve,” Middleton says. “They might start with contemporary ocean cruising, then try river cruising, then step up to luxury — and eventually expedition.”

Destinations like Antarctica, Norway, Iceland and Alaska are already seeing strong interest.

In fact, current geopolitical tensions are already influencing where people are booking.

“At the moment we’re seeing enquiry shift to Asia and closer to home,” Middleton says. “There’s also interest in Alaska, Antarctica, Norway and Iceland — almost the further away from the Middle East the better.”

Even so, he believes European cruising will remain strong.

“People still want to go,” he says. “If flights stabilise, I think it will return to normal fairly quickly.”

For now, Middleton’s team is focused on solving the immediate challenges — like getting those 70 Australians onto their long-awaited river cruise.

It’s a reminder that while cruise holidays might look effortless from the outside, there is often a small army behind the scenes making them happen.

And that, Middleton says, is exactly what My Cruises is built to do.

“Our whole ethos is customer first,” he says. “We’re here to make sure the holiday actually happens — no matter what gets thrown at us.”

For more about My Cruises, go here.