TL;DR
- The one to use tomorrow: match the ship to the traveller. Princess runs a range of ship sizes, so a couple after something calmer and a busy family both fit under one flag.
- Yasmin McKechnie, Princess Cruises’ UK, Ireland and EMEA sales director, walked through the full pitch on the Cruise Corner podcast’s “How to Sell” series.
- Also worth playing up: the line’s partnerships with global brands, a selling point in their own right.
- And sell the full value, both the onboard amenities and the shoreside experiences.
- Her client framing: position a Princess cruise as “a once in a lifetime experience”.
What’s Happening on Cruise Corner
Next time you’ve got a couple weighing up a big-ship sailing against something calmer, or a family torn between two lines, Princess Cruises has an answer worth keeping ready. Its UK sales director has been through the whole pitch on the Cruise Corner podcast’s “How to Sell” series, and her lead point is the one you can put to work the same afternoon.
Yasmin McKechnie, Princess Cruises’ UK, Ireland and EMEA sales director, was around eight months into the role when she recorded the episode. The “How to Sell” strand is built for exactly this, a chance for a line to talk agents through the brand in its own words, and you can find the series on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube… so there’s no wrong way to tune in.
A Closer Look
Her headline point? The range of ship sizes. Princess runs vessels of different scales, which means an agent can match the ship to the traveller rather than the other way round. A couple after something calmer and a family wanting more to do can both find a fit under the same flag.
From there she moved to partnerships. Princess works with global brands, and McKechnie suggested agents treat those tie-ins as a selling point in their own right, something extra to mention when a client is weighing up options. Then it was on to value… not selling on price alone, but the fuller picture of what’s included and what a guest gets for the money. It’s a gentler approach, and an honest one, which tends to sit well with clients who’ve felt stung by a bargain that wasn’t.
The Agent Angle
The bit worth holding onto? Her steer to showcase both sides of a cruise, the onboard amenities and the shoreside experiences. Cruising isn’t only what happens between ports, and it isn’t only the excursions either. Cover both and you widen the appeal across ages, from grandparents to grandchildren on the same sailing.
She framed it nicely too, encouraging agents to position a Princess cruise as “a once in a lifetime experience”. It’s a phrase that gives a pitch some shape, a reminder that you’re selling a memory rather than a cabin number. It’s a small change of language, one that helps a client picture themselves on board.
Where This Helps
I know your listening pile is already long, so here’s the reassuring bit… none of this needs a training day to act on. It’s a short episode with a few clear takeaways you can play while the kettle boils and use the same afternoon. If cruise is a growing slice of your bookings, time with the line’s own sales director is time well spent.
One more thing worth knowing about: a Princess competition was live at the time of writing, with a Mediterranean cruise for two up for grabs. No hard sell from us, more a heads-up in case it’s still running when you look.
