Customer Reviews

Selling the Sea: An Inside Look at the Cruise Industry

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to admit I was a bit concerned about an "impartial" book about the cruise industry written by the president of the world's largest participant. I was dead wrong. Bob Dickinson and Andy Vladimir have written a no-holds-barred, painfully honest account of the state of today's cruise industry. They don't mince words when it comes to the actual decline of cruisers! They finish up with a case study of an ideal cruise only agency that makes sense.

This book provides a facinating behind the scenes look at the cruise industry, from the ship to the home office to the travel agent. I was expecially surprised on how broad based it was, although Carnival (Bob Dickinson is president of that company) does play a prominent role. For example, a section on advertising features old Carnival ads. However, the book does include quotes from presidents of all major cruise lines, and the book freely uses examples from other major cruise lines. That said, it is a great book if you want a behind the scenes look at the industry, or work in the travel industry.

As a previous reviewer noted, thes is very much a business text book focusing on the cruise industry, probably aimed at people working in (or preparing for working in) travel agencies. There is some interesting general information in the early chapters, but then gets dry quickly.

This book is a very good business book about the cruise industry. It explains how Bob and everyone else at Carnival fill up the ships week after week. It is a very good book to use as a textbook in Travel or Cruise Industry classes. I hope the book is kept updated every few years.

A must read for anybody involved with cruises (travel agents, cruise writers, and even passengers who cruise frequently). Lots of info but never boring.
A liitle outdated now. A new edition should be welcome.

Another hit by the authors whose book provides insight into the workings and the "goings on" of the cruise industry. This book should be read by all interested in the cruise industry to include practioners, travel agents and academics.

An excellent book on the history of the cruising industry. If you are an adamant cruiser, you will find this quite interesting

A wonderful, detailed view of the cruise business and of great interest, I would think, to aspiring executives in the industry. For the rest of us, its another matter. Way too much detail and information that the average or even enthusiastic cruiser would not want or appreciate, and some of the text is simply not that well written.

I read the book and am now waiting for my course credit.

This is a fascinating account of the US-based Cruise business. Now in its second edition, the authors contrast their views of a decade ago with where the business is today. The strongest part of the book in my view is the discussion of the different ways the cruise lines have built - and plan to continue to build their businesses. Interestingly the clarity of the strategic thinking varies from the clear and focussed (Carnival) to some other, weaker, waffle. Reading this it becomes clear that Carnival's growth to number one has been no accident. Other parts of the book are not as strong (the history section has some schoolboy howlers) or not as interesting to this reader (how to run a Travel Agency). Nonetheless, an invaluable insight into the cruise business, and a lot better than some of the other gossip-driven 'histories' out there.

This book is full of good solid common sense approaches to making an industry profitable. I bet there is plenty in here to help the Government become profitable too.

Like this part that really struck a sore spot with me as I knew that what Bob Dickinson was saying was true.

"With regard to contracting, The U.S. ship-building industry has for years been entirely focused on lucrative, cost-plus U.S. Navy contracts. Because of their cost-plus nature, they are inherently highly subsidized. If there is a cost overrun (remember the stories of the $1,350 hammer?), it is added to the bill plus the normal shipyard markup. For the record, no self-respecting cruise line would ever sign a shipbuilding contract without a firm price guarantee."