Why "Cruise Track" Is A Game-Changer For Modern Travel Advisors

• Lia Vincent
• 12/21
• Back to How To Become a Travel Agent & Marketing >>

Why "Cruise Track" Is a Game-Changer for Modern Travel Advisors

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In the highly competitive world of travel advising, the difference between a good advisor and an indispensable one often comes down to a single factor: proactivity.

Clients today are savvier than ever. They have apps that track flights, websites that monitor hotel rates, and a constant stream of marketing emails from suppliers. For a travel advisor, the ultimate nightmare is the "I found it cheaper" email from a client—or worse, a client arriving at the pier to discover an itinerary change they weren't warned about.

At Vincent Vacations, we believe our members deserve technology that keeps them steps ahead of their clients, not struggling to catch up. Through our membership with Signature Travel Network, our advisors gain access to Cruise Track, a proprietary software tool that fundamentally changes how you manage cruise bookings.

This isn’t just a notification system; it is an automated watchdog that monitors pricing, amenities, itineraries, and promotions 24/7. It transforms the administrative burden of "checking rates" into a high-touch service opportunity that builds unshakeable client loyalty.

Here is a deep dive into why Cruise Track is a game-changer for your business and how it empowers Vincent Vacations members to deliver superior service.

1. The Modern Advisor’s Dilemma: The Burden of Monitoring

Before we explore the solution, let’s look at the problem. In the "old days" of travel, a booking was often static. You booked the cruise, sent the invoice, and waited for final payment. Today, the cruise industry is dynamic. Yield management software shifts pricing daily. Itineraries are tweaked due to port congestion. Promotional amenities—like onboard credit or drink packages—are added to stimulate sales on specific sailings.

For an advisor managing 50 active bookings, manually checking every single reservation for a price drop or an amenity upgrade is impossible. Yet, if you miss a price drop, you risk your client feeling cheated. If you miss an itinerary change, you risk their vacation experience.

Cruise Track solves this by automating the surveillance of your bookings. It allows travel consultants to set up automatic email notifications for changes to critical items in a Signature cruise offer, ensuring you are the first to know.

2. What Exactly Is Cruise Track?

Cruise Track is a proprietary tool integrated directly into SigNet, the Signature Travel Network intranet. It is designed specifically to help travel advisors monitor specific sailings for material changes.

When you view a cruise offer on the network, Cruise Track is readily available in the "Advisor Tools" toolbox on the right-hand side of the screen. From there, it acts as a silent partner, constantly scanning the data feed for the specific changes you care about.

The Core Pillars of Monitoring

Cruise Track doesn’t just look at price. It monitors five distinct pillars of a cruise booking:

1. Pricing: It tracks changes for specific categories. If the lead price for the category you booked drops, you know immediately.

2. Itineraries: It monitors for changes from the cruise suppliers, such as a shift in port arrival times or a swapped destination.

3. Amenities: It tracks changes to current amenities and alerts you if new amenities are added to the sailing.

4. Promotions: It identifies changes and additions for applicable Signature "red box" promotions.

5. Exclusive Extras: It specifically tracks if "Hosted Sailings" or "Private Car & Driver" benefits are added or removed from a sailing.

By covering these bases, Cruise Track ensures that Vincent Vacations members are never blindsided by a change.

3. The Power of Price Monitoring: Turning "Refunds" into "Upgrades"

The most immediate financial impact of Cruise Track comes from its price monitoring capabilities.

How It Works

When you activate Cruise Track, the system monitors the "lead" price for the category you have selected. While it is important to note that tracking is limited to Signature's electronic feed content (and may exclude some flash fares or past passenger rates), it captures the vast majority of public price drops.

The "Hero Moment"

Imagine you booked a client on a Celebrity cruise in a Veranda stateroom for $4,000. Two months later, the cruise line drops the price of that category to $3,200.

Without Cruise Track, the client might see this online and call you, frustrated that they "overpaid." With Cruise Track, you get the alert first.

This allows you to proactively contact the cruise line. Instead of simply processing a refund (which lowers your commission), you can often negotiate an upgrade to a Concierge Class or AquaClass stateroom that is now within the client's original budget.

You then call the client with good news: "I’ve been monitoring your sailing and noticed a price shift. I’ve already contacted the cruise line and managed to upgrade you to a better suite at no extra cost."

You have just turned a potential complaint into a hero moment. This is the level of service that generates referrals, and it is only possible with the automated vigilance of Cruise Track.

4. Beyond Price: Itinerary and Amenity Protection

While price is important, the experience is paramount. Cruise Track’s ability to monitor non-monetary changes is arguably even more valuable for luxury and experienced travelers.

Itinerary Changes

Cruise lines frequently adjust itineraries. A port might be canceled due to weather patterns, or arrival times might shift from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

If an arrival time changes, your client's private shore excursion or lunch reservation might be ruined. Cruise Track alerts you to itinerary changes immediately. This gives you the head start to rebook guides, adjust transfers, or find alternative activities before the other 3,000 passengers on the ship rush to do the same.

Amenity Hunting

One of the unique benefits of joining Vincent Vacations and Signature is the access to exclusive amenities, such as the Signature Collection (which often includes shipboard credits, private car and driver tours, or prepaid gratuities).

Sometimes, a sailing that didn't have these amenities at the time of booking gets them added later due to a new marketing campaign. Cruise Track monitors for these additions.

If a "Hosted Sailing" host is added to a departure, you can alert your clients that there is now a dedicated host on board to assist them, adding another layer of VIP value to their trip. If a Private Car & Driver option is added, you can offer your client a complimentary luxury tour. These are value-adds that cost you nothing but make you look like a superstar.

5. Automation vs. Customization: Flexible Workflows

Vincent Vacations understands that every advisor works differently. Cruise Track offers three distinct ways to set up monitoring, ranging from fully automated to highly customized.

1. The "Set It and Forget It" Method: Automated Cruise Track

For high-volume advisors, manual entry is a bottleneck. Cruise Track solves this by integrating with ClientBase Res Cards.

When you create a reservation in your CRM (ClientBase) and the status is set to "Quoted" or "Paid," the system can automatically generate a Cruise Track for that sailing.

• It captures the client details and trip name automatically.

• It immediately begins monitoring pricing, amenities, and itineraries.

• If the booking is cancelled in ClientBase, the track is automatically removed, preventing inbox clutter.

This automation ensures that no booking slips through the cracks. As a Vincent Vacations member, you can even customize your profile to decide if you want these automatic tracks created for all quotes, or only for confirmed bookings.

2. The Speed Method: Express Track

Sometimes you are just browsing SigNet and want to keep an eye on a sailing without building a full profile. The Express Track feature allows for a simple one-click setup. You simply click "Express" in the Advisor Tools menu, and the system instantly begins tracking all available items (pricing, amenities, promotions, etc.) for that offer. It is fast, efficient, and ensures you don't lose track of a potential opportunity.

3. The Precision Method: Custom Track

For your VIP clients, you might want granular control. Custom Track allows you to select specific items to monitor.

• Only care about itinerary changes? You can select that.

• Only want to watch price changes for the specific "Veranda" category your client is in? You can select that.

• Custom Notes: You can add specific notes to the tracker, such as "Client wants to upgrade to Mid-Ship if price drops below $2000". These notes appear in your email notification, reminding you exactly why you were watching that sailing.

6. Operational Sanity: The Dashboard and "Watchers"

A common fear with automated tools is "notification fatigue." If you are tracking 50 sailings, you don't want to be bombarded with emails about irrelevant price changes. Cruise Track includes sophisticated management features to keep your inbox sane.

The "Watcher" Feature

Agencies are teams. If you are going on vacation, or if you are working with a mentor at Vincent Vacations, you don't want alerts going to a dead inbox. Cruise Track allows you to designate "Watchers"—other travel professionals in your office who will also receive the notifications. This ensures that if a time-sensitive price drop occurs while you are out of the office, a colleague can jump in and secure the benefit for your client.

Final Payment Guardrails

One of the smartest features of Cruise Track is the "Final Payment" logic. Once a client has made final payment, price drops are often no longer actionable (cruiselines typically do not adjust fares after final payment). To prevent you from receiving frustrating alerts about price drops you can't use, Cruise Track automatically stops sending pricing notifications a set number of days prior to departure.

• This variable is customized by supplier. For example, it might stop 90 days out for AmaWaterways, or 120 days out for Azamara.

• Crucially, it continues to track itineraries and amenities right up until the sailing date, because an itinerary change is relevant even on the day of departure.

Centralized Management

The Cruise Track Management dashboard gives you a bird's-eye view of every sailing you are monitoring. You can sort by "Recent Notifications" to see what is moving, or filter by client name to prepare for a specific meeting. You can easily edit or delete tracks that are no longer needed.

7. Why This Matters for Your Business

Joining Vincent Vacations means gaining access to an ecosystem designed for success. Tools like Cruise Track are not just "nice to haves"—they are essential infrastructure for scaling a travel business.

It Builds Trust

When you call a client to tell them you found an extra $100 shipboard credit, or that you caught a time change in their itinerary, you prove your value. You prove that you are not just a "booking engine," but a travel manager.

It Saves Time

Manually checking 20 bookings a week for price drops would take hours. Cruise Track does it instantly, in the background, allowing you to focus on selling and consulting.

It Increases Revenue

By catching price drops, you can upsell clients to higher categories (increasing your commissionable fare or retaining the original commissionable amount) rather than processing refunds. By spotting new promotions, you can close pending leads who were on the fence.

Conclusion

At Vincent Vacations, we are committed to providing our members with the most advanced tools in the industry. Through our partnership with Signature Travel Network, Cruise Track offers a sophisticated, automated, and customizable way to manage your cruise business.

It allows you to move from reactive (waiting for the client to call with a problem) to proactive (calling the client with a solution). In a service industry, that shift is everything.

Don't let the details slip through the cracks. Join Vincent Vacations today, harness the power of Cruise Track, and give your clients the high-touch, vigilant service they can't get anywhere else.

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