By Megan Towle
Staff Writer
For many people, the idea of going on a cruise may include images of walking on a balmy deck overlooking a cerulean sea, eating juicy local fruits and veggies, dancing to the sounds of Harry Belafonte and Marvin Gaye and, of course, unloading a pile of hard-earned cash in the process.
Mary Crowley of Caribou would beg to differ on that last part of the cruise idea and said that a cruise can be downright inexpensive, and, for what a person gets on a cruise, the money is well spent. How would she know? She’s owned her own CruiseOne franchise for ten years.
“I was a Registered Nurse and a nurse advocate by profession and decided that I wanted to be my own boss. My husband, Tim and I had come back from a cruise and I told him that I thought I’d be really good at selling cruises and so it began. Now I have clients in four or five countries worldwide and in the last two years I have begun selling land-based options and airline tickets,” Crowley reported.
After mulling over the possible expansion of her business into booking flights for her clients, Crowley finally decided to take her business up, up and away.
“I resisted for awhile because booking flights can be somewhat labor intensive but you have that group of people that don’t want to buy their own tickets. They don’t want to call airlines and not everyone has a computer. As far as cruises go, if it floats, we can put you on it,” Crowley said.
Crowley owns her home-based franchise through CruiseOne, which has been consistently ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as a Top 500 franchise since 1998 and has been franchising since 1992. CruiseOne has received numerous awards and a top ranking status by all the major cruise lines. With close to 500 locations coast to coast, CruiseOne prides itself on providing attention to detail and expert advice to every customer.
Each independently owned and operated business combines the latest technology with old-fashioned customer service. Its computerized best fare search program enables cruise specialists to identify excellent values on all major cruise lines. Crowley is an expert in both group and individual sailings; with programs ranging from family reunions at sea and honeymoon cruises to corporate meetings, incentives and ship charters, and she guarantees courteous and professional service.
“For Maine and Aroostook County, when I first started ten years ago, home offices had a different connotation than they do now. It used to be that people wanted to see their agent face to face and some still do, and that is fine with me, I do make house calls. Early on I made a decision to not meet clients in my home but since I do work from home, I am open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“No travel agencies are open in the evenings in Aroostook and I am 99.9 percent sure that none are open on Saturdays. A client can call me in the evening and tell me what they want and quite literally I will call them back in 10-15 minutes with their trip options.
“On Christmas morning in 2005, I had a client stuck in the airport because all of the computer systems for US Air were shut down. They called me and I got them on a plane. You don’t have that luxury when you book your travel online,” Crowley stated.
With 90 percent of her business transactions over the phone, Crowley deals with clients all over the world and, for those local customers, is happy to hand deliver itinerary. She said her business has grown globally due mostly to word of mouth, repeat business and referrals.
“Within CruiseOne I have tons of friends at the same sales level as me but they have ten sales associates under them helping them. I am very motivated, a self-starter. I have been motivated since day one.
“The events of 9-11 drastically changed travel for ever. The nice thing about being in this business is that more and more people are interested in cruising,” Crowley said.
Crowley was nominated for a Royal Caribbean national contest and was named in the top 100 of 2,600 female travel agents who have exhibited courage under adversity. She has also been consistently successful nationally for her sales and service, winning a 2006 Navigators Club Award for sales levels. She has won awards every year since 1998, her first full year in business.
With those points in mind, in addition to her past history in nursing, it is no wonder she has built a trustworthy and ethical business.
“There are many similarities between nursing and the travel business. You have to be organized and plan ahead. You have to be in tune with people, observant and care about what you are doing.
“You must be highly ethical and conscientious because your clients/patients are entrusting you with very important things; large sums of money, their safety and their well being,” Crowley noted.
Crowley reported that currently she has an 11-night British Isle/Norwegian Fjords cruise available for June 2008 through Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, a trip that is only offered once a year.
“I have only 20 left. It is a very interesting and exciting thing to have available since we have so many people from here who are Scandinavian. I also have a 16-night bus tour of Europe available during the first two weeks of April 2008,” Crowley reported.
Some of those readers who have traveled could be under the impression that cruising is more expensive than an all-inclusive resort. With most cruises, extra expenses for beverages and off-shore excursions are tallied at the end of the trip and charged to the client, whereas on an all-inclusive resort trip to Sandals, for example, extra expenses are usually charged to the guest immediately. While it may seem that a big bill at the end is more daunting and pricey than a few dollars here and there, this may be somewhat of an illusion, Crowley advised.
“You could take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of it and have one column for Sandals and one for Royal Caribbean and for the same amount of time, Sandals would end up being about $1,200 more expensive, in some cases. If a client is flexible, traveling can be very inexpensive. Cruising is also great for people who don’t like to fly.” said Crowley.
The whole premise of travel according to Crowley is to experience different things that one would not do on a regular basis. Instead of shoveling the driveway in mid-April, call Crowley for information on some extraordinary cruising deals and adventures at 498-0952 or visit her on line at www.cruiseone.com/mcrowley.
