P & O and Cunard Meetings

I recently returned from my meetings with P & O and Cunard in South Hampton, UK. Here's what I learned:

1. Both P & O and Cunard are direct booking speakers. (Good news here.)
2. Primarily they are looking for UK and European speakers when in Europe and North American speakers when the ships are in North American waters including Mexico and the Caribbean.
3. They are both looking for more enrichment speakers on longer crossings cruises.
4. They are both looking for destinations speakers when an itinerary is more port intensive.

As always, if you need or want help in navigating the direct booking process check out my program "Speak on Cruise Ships: 8 Easy Steps to a Lifetime of FREE Luxury Cruises" at http://www.speakerscruisefree.com/

My bags are packed ....

On Friday we set sail on our next cruise, with one of the more up market lines.

So I made a point of checking a few things. It's always wise to be prepared - and vital to be flexible. I learned that in my business life and was delighted to hear Daniel say much the same on one of his early coaching sessions at SPEAKERSCRUISEFREE.COM.

There are a few special requirements, but none of them unreasonable -

• Mix and mingle with the passengers (well of course we do that anyway :-)
• Talk to the audience, not the notes (obviously :-)
• Involve the audience
• Use their PowerPoint template

Yup. That's about it. The rest is really very straightforward - do a first class job and have fun.

The contract is very clear. They'll monitor feedback, and they won't tollerate bad behaviour. Well to be honest I would think not!!

So I've re-formatted my presentations into their style, rehearsed once more in front of the most critical audience (Kathy, my wife); loaded it all on my netbook - and of course, for safety's sake I've backed it all up to flash drive, DVD, memory card and external drive (JUST IN CASE!!)

My family motto is "Never unprepared". I like to be prepared for every eventuality. I certainly want to do a good job on behalf of everyone else in the SPEAKERSCRUISEFREE.COM community.

Are you already cruising free? If not click HERE now.

Happy cruising - FREE,

Andrew

SCF Roving Report #3: The Vatican's Mysterious Lost Penis Room

We did the "Exclusive Rome" excursion. When we got into the Vatican I noticed that all of the penises (think that's the plural for male genitalia; a word I rarely use) had been knocked off the statues. The tour guide didn't give a good explanation so I asked if there was some mysterious room where they stored all of the lost male organs so painstakingly carved in marble to perhaps one day de-emasculate the stone men. He and the rest of the group found that quite humorous. One cruise passenger commented; "with this new pope's recent behavior (or lack thereof) perhaps they will they put the genitals back on the little boy statues!" Hmmm…

Speak on Cruises Free Tip #3: Develop friendships with other SCF speakers…

I met Andrew Johnson, cruise speaker extraordinaire, in Spain. Andrew is the retired CEO of the European branch of the AAA club. We met them in Toledo, Spain before we joined the cruise. Andrew and his wife Kathy are to extremely high quality people and it was very enriching to compare notes. If you want to advance as a cruise speaker make sure you develop friendships with other top speakers.

-Doc Brown, SCF cruise speaker
Ps. Everybody is hoping that The Vatican's Lost Penis Room will be added to the next Dan Brown book.

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Pompei

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Pompei

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Naples

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Vatican City

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Trevi Fountain

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Doc Brown Cruises Free

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Roman Coliseum

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Breakfast Onboard 6 AM

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Livorno

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Livorno

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Yummm!!!

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SCF Roving Report #2: Heresy in St. Peters!

I decided to do promotional videos in St. Peters. Marisol is Catholic and started chiding me for heresy. I had to sneak off to cut videos on my own but she caught me.

Speak on Cruises Free Tip #2: Give Brand Promoting Gifts

Assistant cruise director Gina told me today that she would have RCCL pens and key chains for me to give away at my onboard talks. This increases the likelihood people will like my talks. Here's how you increase the probability you'll get gifts. Tell the assistant cruise director the gifts will increase brand loyalty.

Then give the gifts away in response to your Q&As at the end of your talks- win-win-win!

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Toledo

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Barcelona

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Toledo

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SCF Roving Report #1: A Redneck Wakes Up In Cannes… France that is!

Marisol and I woke up in Cannes, France. Being born and raised redneck this is extra special. We flew straight over from San Jaun to Madrid, then kinda like somebody popped our old family camper (the one that pops on an old pickup truck). And wham bam up we wake off the coast of France!

Yup it's ol' doc Brown here again to give you roving eye's view of what it's like to cruise FREE!

This is our 6th free cruise in 2 years an we've saved $34,562.21 in total travel fees. That's a big pile of money we've been able to invest elsewhere even while we cruise and awaken in place you, your family, or friends have never imagined.

I know you're expecting the SCF famous extra special cruise free tip so here it goes…

Speak on Cruises Free Tip #1: Strangers Bearing Gifts Are Best Received

I met with the assistant cruise director Gina yesterday in the evening after boarding in Barcelona. She explained all the procedures. Importantly RCCL wants you to start and stop your presentation promptly. Don't chew the fat with folks in the conference center. Offer to talk with them afterwards at their convenience.

Anyhow, when she finished as we sat at the champagne bar on the Brilliance of the Seas, I opened up the black bag I'd carried up. I pulled out 5 CDs of the hottest Latin hip-hop, salsa, and pop to share with the cruise director and the captain. Then I handed her Spansh vocabulary and phrase cards since she had mentioned how she has to learn Spanish. I topped it of with saffron from Toledo, Spain.

She was extremely touched explained that NOBODY who speaks on cruises had EVER given her a gift. What kind of goodwill do you creates for less than $100? Think carefully in light of the fact that we've already saved $5,152.98 in that we got our cabin, food and all amenities for FREEEEEE!!!!

Nuf said…this rednecks headin' ashore to DO FRANCE!

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Use the Team

A few weeks ago another member of the SpeakersCruiseFree.Com network, Dr Scott Brown, called to say that he and his wife, Marisol would be in Toledo, en route to a cruise assignment out of Barcelona. Kathy and I jumped at the chance to meet and we headed off to this beautiful medieval city in the hot centre of Spain.

We met up on Sunday evening for dinner and chewed over a whole host of lessons we've each learned - not just in cruise speaking, but also in publishing, webcasting, revenue generating - and life enjoying. All the sorts of things that Daniel advises on in SpeakersCruiseFree.Com.

I have had an active, varied and successful career. But I have also learned so much from Daniel and the folks like Scott who I have met through Daniel.

And of course Kathy and I have also had some wonderful vacations - cruising the world free. We are getting over $15,000 worth of free cruising each year at the moment (that's based on discounted prices - not brochure price!!). All in exchange for doing what I enjoy - talking about things that interest me. Thanks to SpeakersCruiseFree.Com.

If you are not already cruising free and meeting great folks click HERE now!!

Happy cruising FREE!!

Andrew