{"id":21163,"date":"2012-02-15T06:00:43","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=21163"},"modified":"2018-03-06T18:15:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T00:15:19","slug":"cruise-vacations-smooth-sailing-meeting-on-biz-friendly-cruise-ships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/cruise-vacations-smooth-sailing-meeting-on-biz-friendly-cruise-ships\/","title":{"rendered":"Smooth sailing: meeting on biz-friendly cruise ships"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Happy sailing: The Queen Mary 2 is among the cruise ships that caters to meetings. Credit: KMJ.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Mark Chesnut<\/em><\/p>\n

For most travelers, cruises bring to mind things like a Caribbean vacation<\/a> or family travel<\/a>, not a business trip. But today\u2019s increasingly high-tech cruise ships can be ideal settings for corporate and organizational meetings, conferences and private events.<\/p>\n

The selling points for taking that next group meeting onboard are many. For one thing, it allows participants to enjoyconsistent service in a controlled environment that also offers the added bonus of seeing a variety of destinations (meeting planners might also like the fact that attendees aren\u2019t likely to wander away from important events when they\u2019re surrounded by miles of ocean).<\/p>\n

Cruise ships provide a surprisingly varied array of meeting and private event venues, from discos and theaters to libraries and conference rooms. On larger ships, audiovisual equipment nearly rivals what\u2019s available in the best land-based convention centers. And planners can arrange meetings and events on just one part of a ship, or charter an entire vessel.<\/p>\n

Among the big cruise companies that cater to meetings and conventions is Carnival<\/a>, which offers different facilities for meetings based on the class of ship. The company\u2019s Fantasy Class ships — including the 2,056-passenger Carnival Fantasy<\/a>, which cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean — targets meetings for three-, four- and five-day cruises. Venues on board range from a 1,300-person main show lounge to a 60-person conference room.<\/p>\n

Royal Caribbean<\/a> has ships with flexible conference centers that accommodate anywhere between 18 and 330 guests, and offers free use of its audiovisual equipment. The company\u2019s Oasis Class ships offer the option to reserve an entire \u201cneighborhood\u201d — themed areas that include the Boardwalk, Central Park and the Solarium — for private events.<\/p>\n

With Cunard, groups can meet aboard the legendary Queen Mary 2, which has more than 10,000 square feet of classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums. Wine tastings, customized d\u00e9cor and special New York and London hotel<\/a> stays are among the tempting add-ons available.<\/p>\n

Mark Chesnut is a freelance writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com<\/a>, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He was an avid viewer of \u201cThe Love Boat.\u201d<\/em>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cruise ships may be associated mostly with vacations, but they are also well equipped to handle business meetings, conferences and events. Here are tips for planning the perfect meeting at sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[27,84,28,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-caribbean","category-cruise","category-europe","category-family-travel"],"acf":{"api_active":null,"api_title":null,"api_excerpt":null,"api_featured_image":null,"api_lob":null},"posts_api_cpm_point":[{"name":"","description":"","thumbnail":"","address":"Caribbean","latitude":"21.4691137","longitude":"-78.65689420000001","icon":"\/images\/icons\/marker.png"}],"yoast_head":"\nSmooth sailing: meeting on biz-friendly cruise ships | Orbitz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/cruise-vacations-smooth-sailing-meeting-on-biz-friendly-cruise-ships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smooth sailing: meeting on biz-friendly cruise ships | Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cruise ships may be associated mostly with vacations, but they are also well equipped to handle business meetings, conferences and events. 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