2026 Seminar at Sea - A Look Back

What did you miss if you skipped our 2026 Seminar at Sea? Michael, Chris, Danielle, and Scott talk about our favorite parts and look ahead to 2027.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:03

Welcome to Beyond the Handbook. Practical insight from the minds behind the manual. Your host of the authors of the best-known travel advisors handbook. All of Fame Cruise Counselor, Michael McConnell and Chris Crown. Elite Cruise Counselor Scott McAllister. And accredited cruise counselor, Danielle Gognez. It's time to go beyond the handbook.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

And I think we have all finally gotten a little bit of rest. Although we're a few weeks removed from our third annual seminar to see on board Beautiful Celebrity Reflection. I think finally now we are back and caught up. And uh maybe it's time to kind of look back a little bit and also look forward to our 2027 one. So uh we'll go around the table here to start. Uh I've been thinking a lot about the feedback we got on our 2026. And for those of you that have not sailed with us yet, uh, one of the things that we're we're really adamant about is please, please, please give us feedback. And our customers, our our friends that sailed with us gave us a lot of great information that we can then take forward because we're not kidding when we say we take this all to heart. Every single message, every single word, because we want this to be something that you want to attend. It's not just something we put together and go, well, this is what it is. If you don't like it, don't come. You know, we we one of the reasons next year, 2027, is seven days instead of three, is because of you. You asked us for longer, and by golly, we're gonna deliver longer. Uh, but thinking back to um just a few weeks ago, I you know, I think the thing that I continue to be most touched about, and we'll go around the table on this, is the community that we have built with these seminars at sea. And and I'm not saying we're taking credit for this, but when we did our first one a few years ago, I was wondering number one, is anybody gonna show up? And number two, how is this really gonna go? Uh, because we we had a pretty good idea that we had a decent schedule and all this, but you never know what the people are gonna be like. And things like this are a breathing thing, and the people are what make it. And we got so lucky that first year that we had an incredible group of people. We had some newbies, we had some old bees, we had some in-the-middle bees, uh, but we had a nice swath of people um from all different walks of life and different experiences, and they all gelled very well, which is the other thing, you never know if it's gonna happen. And then we go to year two, where some of those people stuck around, in fact, most of them did from year one, and then we add in a whole new batch of people, and you go, okay, how is this gonna work? Like bringing two cats into a new household, and it all worked out great. And then the third year, and the same thing. And I don't know how we've managed to keep that lightning in a bottle, but it's one of the things when I'm talking to people about this that I'm most proud of is that we have this incredible group of people that participate and share their knowledge and share their information, and are just genuinely good people you want to go have a drink or a coffee with. And I'm really, really proud of that. And I don't know how we pulled it off, but we seem to be able to be able to keep doing it. So thank you to those of you that have participated, and to those of you that haven't, uh, you really want to be a part of this community because it really is something special. So we'll go ladies first. Scott, no, I'm kidding. Uh Danielle.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

I know I do that joke every time.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Never not to me anyway, no. Uh well, the waiters and waitresses seem to laugh at it, so there's that. I do. Uh so Danielle, what are you when you look back now, what is still sticking in your mind?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Well, uh, for you know, those who have been living under a rock and don't know, obviously, with my platform being with special needs, neurodivergence, uh, which now all of us are jumping on that bandwagon to to bring uh light to that in the travel industry. Um, it is still sitting so beautifully in my heart. Um, the uh opportunity to share what that could mean, what could neurodivergence and what could accessibility mean for our clients. The fact that we were able to talk about that so freely and have that be so well received was I I couldn't have asked for more. Um there were moments where I was sitting up there with uh Meg Ravi from Culture City, and I just couldn't believe that we were given the platform and people actually wanted to hear what we had to say. Um and that can actually be said for our entire seminar. We're so grateful that people want to come and hear our knowledge and and our stories. Um obviously that part is is sitting extra special for me. But just to see the eagerness to learn, and I I've said this a lot, and I will continue to say it. It is not every day you find an industry where people who are quote unquote the experts are are just gonna share that knowledge with others. A lot of times they're like, well, if I'm the best, I'm gonna keep my secrets to myself. I worked hard for this, I'm not gonna share. That is the opposite of what the travel advisory industry allows us. I mean, look at Cruise 360, look at Clea. We are literally trying to learn from each other. There's plenty of fish in the sea, there's plenty of ways to go about it. We all do different things. Um, and the fact that people wanted to learn from us, I don't know that I'll ever get over that high. I think that is absolutely sensational. Um, that we have set the bar, hopefully, um, amongst others that also do this, to say, hey, this is what worked for us. We want you to do just as well and be your best. So this travel advisor industry lives, lives on for as long as it can.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Yeah, and I'm I I love what you said about the the learning because again, when we put together these seminars, and obviously it comes from our research and it comes from what do you want us to talk about and what do you want to hear about, you still wonder, did I get it right? And and first of all, we were thrilled by the fact that our surveys were all five-star across the board, which which is just it makes us so proud that we were able to deliver what they what they wanted to see. But you look out from the stage into the audience and everybody's taking notes and taking pictures and stuff. And I I'll tell you what makes me proudest of that is that we're in an industry where if you're not learning constantly, you're gonna get left behind. And we have said this over and over and over again. It's one of the main reasons we continue to write books, is that you've got to constantly be learning and to look out and see advisors that are so invested that they will pay for a cruise and come on, and especially this year when we were teaching on port days and they gave up their chance to be at Coco K or to be in Key West and down at the Hemingway house playing with the kitties, they came to learn. And that makes my heart full because we've all talked about how important that is to your business. Michael, when you look back now and you've had a chance to rest, although Michael's the one that dances till four in the morning and then comes to the seminars all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and I don't know how he does it. But when you look back now on just a few weeks ago, what's that, Scott? Oh, the igloos, yeah. The igloo drinks. Igloose double shot. So, Michael, what is still kind of lingering in your mind from a few weeks ago?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Well, uh, first of all, it was an incredible experience. Um, you know, I I had been a little concerned going into it because this is the shortest seminar Etsy that we've ever attempted. And yet we had a full uh uh program of education and content. And um, what I love is that we didn't compromise on the content that we needed to present and what people were expecting. And I think we did um quite well with that. I I think the surveys reflected, I think uh the conversations we've had uh with with the the passengers and attendees uh reflect that we did very well in that portion of it. I think the piece that I miss the most from the longer ones um are those informal conversations amongst each other. I had some great conversations with a few of the advisors on like the last evening. You know, we were um uh there in the uh the the theater um both before and after the show. And it was a great opportunity. Um and by the way, Chris, you know, before the show and after the show, you know, it it these conversations didn't happen during, just in case.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Okay, he knows my pet peeves, but anyway, continue.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

But um, and then um even then, you know, um walking out of the show and past the shops, I mean the conversations continued, and and those were fantastic. Um it's just that uh you know, I felt a little bit of sadness that um it was such a short cruise that uh those quality interactions felt like they were delayed a bit. Um and on a longer cruise, those would be happening, you know, throughout this, you know, the seven nights and eight days uh that we're we're together. Um and yet um between our coffee talks um and a little bit of informal time, um, really do appreciate those times.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Scott, what is your takeaway from uh just a few weeks ago? What are you still thinking about?

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Honestly, I'm still thinking about how did we pull that off? You know, we we were very intentional, as we have been from day one, about that whole aha atmosphere of advisors helping advisors. It Chris has said it, Danielle said it, Michael said it, I'm I'm gonna continue beating that drum. We truly do believe that we want to provide a platform for us, not just the four of us. When I say us, it really is the all-inclusive of all travel advisors who want to get involved, to have a platform for the sharing of ideas, best practices. And as those of you that traveled with this uh this past year, uh, you know, Scott opened up a little piece of his brain, his file that he calls Ask Me How I Know. And, you know, we don't always share the good things. I am more than happy to be the fool on stage and share things that did not work in hopes that other people will learn from that or be able to tweak it and do it their way. And that's what we hope when we share the good, the bad, and the ugly, right? This isn't our information just for us. We're putting it out in the world. You adapt it, be successful. Because if you're successful, we're all successful. So that's what I get most jazzed about. Uh, and I'm glad that we were able to pull that off on a short version of what we normally provide in the feedback from our attendees, uh, just kind of I don't want to say drove it home, but it reassured us that we did hit that mark that we were that we were aiming for. So that that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 10:48

It certainly was a jam-packed edition, I'll say that. And and you know, for those of you that were worried about it being just so quick, well, 2027 is gonna be so relaxed and so laid back in comparison, uh, although it will be it will be a lot of great information. We're not gonna drop that. In fact, we're probably gonna add even more, but it's one of those things where some things are gonna be good for some people, some are gonna be for others. Michael, you had a thought on that real quick.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Well, I you know, I did have a thought because I think one of my concerns going into uh uh the three-day, and as jam-packed as it was, is in those um first seminars at sea, um I found uh some of our time as authors exhausting because you know, not only did we uh do the uh you know the setup and the presentations, but then there was the review of each session. What's the feedback? How do we modify the next one? How do we prepare for the following session? And um, you know, that combined with the late night dancing um over seven days. Um I was pretty tired. And what I really found was um, you know, the uh uh the process of preparation that we had um, you know, has developed over the years. And I think for this last one, you know, we've never been so well prepared to not only deliver the content, but to have contingencies and to be able to adapt. So, you know, we did have some surprises that came up. I mean, we did have some logistical um uh things that happened that were unexpected. I mean, who knew that uh a uh ad for like uh song um about the destination would go over the loudspeaker for what was it, eight minutes? Yeah, you know, or and and yet and yet we were able to be on time by the end of that session.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

What he's referring to for people that weren't there is uh since we were on the port days, if you've never been to Coco K, when they get there, they play this song that is the equivalent of it's a small world, basically. It's an earwig that once you hear it, you cannot get rid of. And it also plays on their tram when you drive around the island. Well, they played that doggone song. They must have played the dance version because it was six or seven minutes, and we're just all sitting there going, okay, we can't do because it's you know, the ship announcements, we have to stop and wait. And we were all sitting there going, okay, this is two port days. They're gonna do a crew drill in the middle of us teaching, and we're gonna have to, you know, put up with fire zone seven, fire zone seven. And thankfully they didn't do that, but we did get the Coco K song, so there was that. But yeah, you know, it it's one of those things when you're that compressed, you Michael, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Sorry, he keeps Oh, um, you know, I didn't mean to uh interrupt, but um, you know, basically that I I didn't want to finish this uh podcast without an acknowledgement to um, you know, first of all, you know, my my my co-authors and co-presenters, and then uh the crew of the ship, because um, you know, we we were doing some presentations on um like um accessibility and accommodation, and I was really touched that the level of light was more of a concern to my co-authors because of the potential cause of uh either migraines or you know effects on my being being able to see out into um you know where where people were seated and with um you know recent hearing loss that the um a thought was given to uh the seating. So I was where my good ear was facing everybody, and that we were adjusting the microphone so that it was appropriate for everybody. And you know, you think of all those things that you can do in advance. Well, there are some things that take time in logistics. If you're really thinking about how each person is going to have a positive experience, and I love that we give that level of detail. So when somebody mentions, whether it's in advance or during, that, you know, by the way, you know, I'm I'm not quite able to hear, or you know, maybe I could see better if only you guys did XYZ. Um, it's just really good to see that this group responds to that.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Yeah, Michael, I'm really glad you brought that up. It's a great point. Now, pivoting to 2027, we are already deep in the planning stages, as you might imagine. And that cruise is on sale now, April 4th through April 11th, 2027, on board the beautiful Celebrity Beyond. We were on there a couple of years ago and now we're heading back. You can get all the details on our website, tahandbook.com slash cruise. We are already close to 70% full. So get on it today and come join us for one of our seminars at sea.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

Visit Tahandbook.com to order our book. See our upcoming schedule seminars at C and listen to episodes on demand. When we go, we got the headbook.