You’re ready to plan your company’s next meeting, and the ease of holding it on a cruise ship is wildly appealing. From culinary and wellness experiences to entertainment and the opportunity for your attendees to visit several destinations, with much of the logistics built into the experience, you are thrilled. But to get it right, you need to choose from a marketplace filled with options like smaller ships, larger ships, even larger ships, river cruises, ocean cruises, charter options, group options, destinations, time of year, how your attendees will travel to and from the embarkation and disembarkation ports, and so much more. And within each of those considerations are the nuances offered by the different brands offering cruises, as well as the different ways they execute contracts with planners. Fortunately, Landry & Kling has decades of expertise in matching companies like yours to the right cruise line for them and are standing by to assist you. To help you narrow down what you’re looking for, here are some tips.
What Do Attendees Look for During Meetings and Events at Sea?
The overarching consideration in choosing the right cruise line for your meeting or event, is the attendees. Not only do you want your own programming to engage them, whether it’s an incentive group or a company retreat, but you also want the cruise ship itself to delight your guests.
7 Tips to Find the Best Cruise Ship for Your Meeting, Incentive Program, or Group Event
Before you meet with Landry & Kling to discuss how we can help you narrow down your search for the best cruise for your needs, these tips will set you on a course for success.
1. Consider Your Budget
A full-ship charter will give you nearly full control over the venues, schedules, and experiences on board, with no other guests but yours, but it is a big-ticket financial commitment. Alternatively, a group contract will still let you take advantage of a ship’s dining options, conference facilities, premium activities, and unique experiences, but may be more manageable from a budget perspective. Landry & Kling can help you find the cruise line that both fits your budget and offers the level of service you want your attendees to experience.
2. Best Size and Type of Cruise Ship
When planning a personal holiday, the size and type of a cruise ship comes down to personal preferences. Perhaps you want a relaxed atmosphere, a variety of dining venues, thoughtful onboard entertainment, and wellness that’s ingrained into the overall onboard experience. Or, maybe you seek amenities designed to wow you at every turn, like the rock climbing walls, surf simulator, zip lines, ice skating, and mini-golf courses offered on some of the largest, boldest ships on the water.
When planning a meeting, those same kinds of options are important considerations, but from a different perspective: what cruise ship offerings will best help you achieve your meeting’s goals and leave your attendees feeling delighted, but not overwhelmed?
3. Lead Time
Allow as much time as possible before your sailing date, to have the best choice of ships for your preferred number of nights, the best selection of staterooms and suites, and confirmed meeting space for your group. While one year is a good guideline for lead time, Landry & Kling can help you determine how much lead time is needed based on your goals.
4. Does Your Group Need Exclusivity?
Nothing beats a cruise ship charter for privacy, security, flexibility and customization opportunities. Nearly every aspect of the cruise experience can be adjusted to suit your program needs. Even the itinerary, the number of nights and ports of call can be adjusted.
But here, ship size is absolutely critical, because you are buying all the rooms in all categories offered.
Lead time is especially important when considering a ship charter. Once cruise lines publish their itineraries (typically 18 months in advance), bookings are open to the public, and it then becomes more challenging (although not impossible) for cruise lines to readjust booked guests in order to accommodate charters.
5. Number of Nights
The cruise industry is rich with variety and each cruise line offers a variety of itinerary lengths. If you are not chartering a ship, your group is limited to the existing itineraries, but “limit” is hardly applicable, as you will find cruise lines that offer three-, four- and five-night sailings as well as those seven nights and longer in length. For many groups, a three- to five-night cruise is the sweet spot.
6. Destination
The region in which a cruise takes place, and, specifically, the destinations it visits, are just as important as the onboard experience. Larger ships tend to visit ports that see a lot of cruise traffic. Smaller oceangoing ships visit lesser-known ports. And river cruises are unique in that they visit a lot of cities in a short amount of time. If you want your group to have time at a private island in the Caribbean, that will figure into your planning. If land-based experiences with a lot of variety are important for your group in both their down time and planned activities such as a dinner in a glittering port city, destination is even more important.
7. Meeting & Event Space
What is the overall size of your group? How often will they all need to be in the same place, and under what circumstances — for a meal, presentations, or brainstorming? Do you have smaller groups within your overall group? When can intimate venues be useful? Most ships offer meeting space and the use of audiovisual equipment and technology as part of the overall service, without the additional fees sometimes found at land-based venues.
Larger ships offer something for everyone, in terms of venues, and smaller ships such as luxury yachts and river ships are an entire vibe in themselves. When picking the right cruise ship for your needs, Landry & Kling will help you consider all the needs of your group and how your activities will bring your goals to life.
Choosing the Right Cruise Line for Your Events
Considering your group and what would make them feel like the event has value and the benefit of discovery, connection, and, importantly, down time, and factoring in all the foundational aspects such as budget, size, space, schedule, and destination, can feel like a lot. Landry & Kling is here to make this easy for you. With deep expertise in the industry and relationships with all the cruise lines, we not only help you choose the right cruise line, but also handle the arrangements.
Here are a few examples of cruise lines and what they offer for meetings and events:
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean ships offer large, industry-changing ships with “wow-factor” experiences, substantial meeting space, modern A/V capabilities, and a wide range of itineraries. Your attendees can attend multiple concurrent breakouts, while signature entertainment venues can be repurposed for general sessions, receptions, and recognition events. A variety of stateroom categories is available, and a high number of dining options are available.
Virgin Voyages
Premium brand Virgin Voyages is ideal for small groups; its adults‑only ships offer a contemporary, informal atmosphere and a strong focus on food, entertainment, and nightlife. Meeting spaces and lounges are designed to feel less traditional, which can work well for younger or more creative audiences who respond to unconventional formats.
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises operates premium, design‑forward ocean ships with dedicated meeting venues ranging from formal meeting rooms to distinctive lounges for sessions, social events, and recognition moments. Celebrity’s ocean itineraries span mainstream and upscale destinations, and vary in length. Celebrity also has river ships scheduled to launch on the Rhine and Danube beginning in late 2027
AmaWaterways
AmaWaterways focuses on European rivers and select worldwide itineraries with ships that are small, walkable, and geared toward immersive destination experiences. Meeting space is modest and best suited to smaller groups, board meetings, or executive incentives where the agenda blends light formal programming with ample time ashore. The atmosphere is relaxed and residential, with strong emphasis on local food, wine, and active touring, which supports informal networking and relationship‑building.
Atlas Ocean Voyages
Atlas Ocean Voyages operates smaller, expedition‑style ocean ships that focus on immersive, often off‑the‑beaten‑path destinations. Meeting space is limited and informal, which is well-suited to boutique incentives, executive or board gatherings, and to affinity groups than to large, multi‑track conferences. The atmosphere is relaxed and destination‑centric, with itineraries that can include remote ports, cultural depth, and adventurous shore experiences.
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
The Ritz‑Carlton Yacht Collection offers small, yacht‑style ships with high service levels and residential‑style suites, ideal for high‑touch incentive or reward groups and senior leadership or board‑level gatherings. Limited capacity and a strong focus on privacy and personalization make these vessels well suited to full‑ship charters and programs where discretion and intimacy are key.
To Find Your Perfect Cruise Ship – Get in Touch with Us
At Landry & Kling, we can help you make the right choice. We are experts in ships’ unique offerings and can help you understand all the ways that a cruise ship’s activities and amenities, entertainment options, relaxation options, and excursions can benefit your group as you choose a cruise. You’ll find that many activities are part of the ship’s existing offering, which makes your job easier, and then it’s just a matter of planning your cruise, which is where we come in, to offer a wide range of support.
FAQs
Which cruise line has the best onboard activities?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we hear when working with planners, but the truth is that the best cruise line for you is one with a range of activities that will complement and enhance your attendees’ overall experience, to make them feel excited and also relaxed, so they are more receptive to the content of the event’s presentations, sessions, and networking opportunities. Cruise companies offer a wide array of activities, shore excursions, fine dining, and exciting amenities. Some offer intimate lounges, some present Broadway-style shows. A mainstream cruise line will tend to have a more energetic variety of entertainment, but many cruise ships that are considered boutique or smaller could be the perfect fit for you.
Can we have exclusive use of the cruise ship for our event?
The only way to have exclusive use of the cruise ship is to fully charter it, which means buying out all staterooms and suites for your travel dates. Landry & Kling not only books the charter for you, but also handles all logistics to help the entire experience flow seamlessly, freeing you to enjoy your attendees.
Are private meeting rooms available on all cruise ships?
Ships feature a variety of rooms, some intentionally built for meetings and groups and others, like specialty dining restaurants, can be repurposed. The number of spaces and level of privacy varies by ship.
