When Lucy McRae, a travel planner at Travology Travel, was watching a theatre production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, she recognised a familiar scent that started to fill the auditorium air. “I was pretty sure they had started pumping out the smell of chocolate." 

"I looked at my friend and said, ‘Can you smell that?’” she explains. “I've never experienced anything like it."

McRae wasn’t in London’s West End or on New York’s Broadway. Instead, she was onboard Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas for its first-ever sailing. She landed a place onboard the ship after participating in TTG’s ‘Switch Me On To Cruise’ campaign, delivered in partnership with Royal Caribbean.

The two-part campaign aimed to nurture new-to-cruise agents, providing "training that is practical, accessible, and genuinely engaging, while giving agents commercially relevant knowledge they can use immediately in sales conversations." 

Learning that works

This is exactly what Switch Me On To Cruise delivered for McRae. Although she holds a background in travel PR, McRae has only been working as an agent for 18 months. “Everything is still new to me, so I absorb any information I have time for.”

The campaign's first phase featured daily competitions over four weeks. Agents answered questions on Royal Caribbean to win exciting prizes – from suitcases to hampers – finding the correct answers by watching short videos or solving riddles.

Lucy McRae

“It's often hard for me and other agents to fit training into our daily lives and work, but Switch Me On To Cruise stood out because it was quick and easy to do every day," she says. “Bite-sized training works so well for daily life.”

Before securing her sailing, McRae also won a pair of Apple AirPods through one of the daily competitions. "It's always nice having prizes like that to aim for, and it definitely incentivises you to stick with the training."

A Legend-ary sailing

Armed with fresh knowledge, agents were challenged in the second phase of Switch Me On To Cruise to make a Royal Caribbean booking – this time, for the chance to win one of ten staterooms onboard Legend of the Seas.

McRae was one of the lucky agents to secure a booking, and as a reward, headed to Malaga in June to step onboard the new Icon Class ship. “It was just… wow,” she says, recalling her first impressions.

Despite now being one of the largest ships at sea, McRae found Legend surprisingly easy to navigate compared to other ships she had been on. “The signage is very clear, and it's split into neighbourhoods – for once I didn’t get lost!”

Lucy McRae

When asked about standout moments, McRae praised the entertainment – from the high-diving aerial stunt show Shockwave in the AquaTheater to the immersive Charlie and the Chocolate Factory production.

“The shows were absolutely exceptional,” she shares. “If I had paid to see those in the West End, I would have been thoroughly satisfied. Realising you're watching it on a ship takes it to new heights.”

McRae also set out to experience as many of the ship’s 28 dining options as possible during her four-night sailing. “We couldn't get everywhere and try everything, but we tried very hard!” Beyond the variety in the main buffet, McRae highlighted Surfside Eatery as a standout for families. “It has lots of family-friendly food, lovely small portions, and is perfectly located next to the children’s facilities.”

Knowledge is power

Combining hands-on experience with bite-sized training, McRae now feels confident matching the ideal client to a Royal Caribbean sailing.

“Families would fail to have a bad time – it’s just impossible on one of those ships,” she says, citing its record-breaking waterparks, Surfside neighbourhood and world-class entertainment as primary selling points.

McRae notes the product would also appeal to couples as well as clients who already know and love big-ship experiences. “You don’t really need to get off the ship because there’s so much to do!”

Lucy McRae

She adds: “My friend came with me – who is more of a backpacker type and would never normally consider a cruise – but she came back beaming!”

For agents also looking to convert clients into first-time cruisers, McRae offers a simple selling tip: “They don’t have to do two weeks around the Caribbean, unless they want to. Royal Caribbean have shorter itineraries that can give them a feel for cruising.”

She also encourages other new-to-cruise agents to experience the product firsthand, whether through a personal holiday or a ship visit. “Going onboard meant I could capture great photos and videos for social media and my blog, making it easy to show clients what it's really like.”

Finally, she highlights Royal Caribbean’s online resources as helpful tools. “There are so many fantastic opportunities for training webinars,” she says. “You learn so much and come away far more confident in selling to clients.”