While most cruise passengers are still overwhelmingly vacationers, many businesses are discovering the benefits of conducting meetings at sea. "The growth and importance of corporate business tours has been phenomenal," says Paul Shortall, senior director of charter, incentive sales for Seattle -based Holland America Line.

Radio Shack has taken 100 of its top dealers/franchisees and their spouses on Alaskan cruises several times as part of an annual business performance reward program, according to Kay Jackson, senior director of corporate communications. About 90% of the corporate cruise business is an "incentive" or "recognition" based reward for the top sales performers in the company, says Shortall. He adds that a cruise provides a more memorable and enduring experience than a cash incentive award.

But incentives and rewards are only two reasons for business cruises. Many companies also conduct strategy and planning sessions, annual and quarterly reviews, education and training seminars, motivation and team building exercises and corporate retreats at sea.

Corporations also cruise with vendors, customers, suppliers and strategic partners to build relationships. On one occasion, Holland America brought aboard Ricky Martin in his hometown of San Juan, for a private concert for 1,000 worldwide dealers and guests of Ericsson telephone.

With abundant public meeting space, cruise ships offer a unique venue for exhibitions, new product introductions and product demonstrations. A Yamaha motorcycle and a replica "Indy Type" race car are among the more notable items Holland America has brought aboard for display at the request of their corporate customers.

Cruises are often a logical choice because they are very cost effective," says Judy Locketz, senior manager for travel purchasing at BI Worldwide in Minneapolis. "It offers a great product for a good price, so it's good value."

With a cruise, meeting planners know all their costs up front. Rooms, meals, entertainment and all amenities are usually included in the price of a cruise. There are no hidden costs. "It's easy to control your budget that way," says Locketz.

A cruise can also be the best alternative for a large group. Slater-de Mont often finds it difficult to find quality hotel rooms for 1,000 people in many locales. When conducting land -based incentive meetings, she often has to break the group into two separate meetings. Onboard ship, there are no further transportation arrangements to worry about and the non-stop shows and activities relieve the corporate sponsor from the task of entertaining their passengers every minute of the day.

There is also an advantage being in an enclosed environment. Everyone eats, socializes and performs the same activities together. "And, unlike at a hotel, you just can't walk out the door," says Shortall. It's a much closer environment to foster camaraderie and may be a great way to meet people from all levels of the company, according to Jo Kling, president of Landry & Kling, a company that arranges business meetings at sea.

Today's cruise ships are equipped with projectors, flat screen televisions, and most other audio-visual equipment used for meetings and presentations, according to Shortall. And, unlike most hotels, cruise ship lines do not charge extra for meeting room usage.

For those, like myself, who cannot stand to be cut off from the outside world, most cruise ships now offer wireless Internet access in meeting rooms and many other areas of the ship, according to Shortall. Holland America ships also offer intranet capabilities for corporate clients as well as the ability to broadcast meetings, presentations or speeches throughout the ship on a dedicated television channel. And where ship-to-shore phone calls were once prohibitively expensive, many cruise lines are beginning to offer cellphone usage.

"We've definitely seen more businesses look to ships because they now realize they can have on ships just what they have on land," says Shortall.

About 40% of groups handled by Holland America actually charter the entire ship. Chartering an entire ship has many advantages, according to Locketz. "If you can charter a ship, it becomes your ship for the week. It's a really nice opportunity for people to be together but still have the run of the ship and be able to do whatever they'd like to do." With a charter, a business can influence the itinerary, ports of call, onboard entertainment, shore excursions and many other aspects of the cruise.

Slater-de Mont has arranged cruises to such fun spots as the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Mediterranean for Princess House. But it's not all play for those top sales performers who have earned that trip. "We always have at least one general session where all of the achievers come together and are given the message for the year for the corporation," says Slater-de Mont. There is also an awards ceremony and a full schedule of meetings and training sessions. "Over the course of a seven-day cruise we could be running two seminars a day."

All types of companies take business cruises. AFLAC, CIGNA, Harley Davidson, MasterCard, Miller Brewing, Snapple and Toyota are some of Landry and Kling's cruise customers.

Kling's biggest challenge in corporate cruising came last year during Super Bowl XXXIX. As the smallest market ever to be awarded the Super Bowl location, Jacksonville lacked adequate hotel space to handle the event. Kling was called upon to juggle five cruise ships which served as floating hotels over Super Bowl weekend for 75 groups of corporate executives, clients, and special guests of the Super Bowl sponsors. The five ships that never left port provided over 3,500 additional deluxe sleeping rooms, 35 bars and 15 restaurants. But the problem was that Jacksonville only had one terminal. Kling had to expand the terminal to accommodate passengers from those extra cruise ships and that was one busy place. "It was like an airport at Thanksgiving, actually," says Kling.

Send David your feedback: David Grossman is a veteran business traveler and former airline industry executive. He writes a column every other week on topics of interest and concern to business travelers. E-mail him at travel@usatoday.com.

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