VIDEO: “Work hard, play hard”: PAX gets exclusive look at TravelBrands’ SeaU conference

Call it the ultimate learning event at sea.

TravelBrands Encore Cruises’ ninth SeaU conference wrapped up in Miami, Florida on Sunday (Nov. 10) after a week of fun and learning aboard the Carnival Celebration, a fun-filled, Excel Class ship that first debuted in 2022.

The jam-packed event, designed to highlight what’s new and next in cruising, welcomed 240 Canadian travel advisors (from both English and French-speaking Canada), representatives from a dozen cruise suppliers and the TravelBrands team.

This year’s SeaU was a big deal, for many reasons. With nearly 300 total delegates, it was TravelBrands’ largest SeaU yet. It was also Carnival Cruise Line’s first time hosting the symposium.

The week not only featured supplier presentations, sales workshops and one-on-one opportunities, but it also delivered an authentic experience at sea, transporting agents to sun-kissed ports of call, such as Amber Cove (in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic), San Juan in Puerto Rico, and Saint Thomas.

READ MORE: On Location: “It's awesome”: What agents are saying at TravelBrands’ SeaU conference

“The goal is to show travel professionals how to qualify a client for that perfect cruise,” Nathalie Tanious, president and CEO of H.I.S. Canada Travel Inc, the parent company of TravelBrands, told PAX, which covered the conference exclusively.

Time to explore

TravelBrands also organized excursions in each destination. 

In Puerto Plata, agents visited the vibrant city centre, the Macorix House of Rum, the Amber Museum (which holds some of Dominican’s stunning amber stones) and Emotions Resort, a 475-room all-inclusive property, which hosted a lunch.

READ MORE: On Location: Fun & learning, activated – TravelBrands’ SeaU sets sail aboard Carnival Celebration

San Juan, meanwhile, was all about exploring the historic city centre, and visiting local attractions, like Casa Bacardi, the world-famous rum distillery, where agents learned about Bacardi’s production process and how to make their own minty Mojitos.

Activate the fun 

SeaU is all about activating fun – on the last night, TravelBrands’ hosted a holiday-themed cocktail party. (Let’s just say travel advisors wasted no time adding some Claus to their cruise).

The conference is also a platform for TravelBrands to showcase its latest tools and technology, like GiGi, an air consolidation system, which now includes a calculator that agents can use to add up airfare prices and display differences.

As for tools that assist with cruise sales, there’s TravelBrands’ air-sea protection program.

This is a guarantee that should clients encounter a flight cancellation, delay or disruption, and they can’t get to their cruise, that TravelBrands will get them there – or at least to their next port (when the air is booked through TravelBrands).

“Cruising is an integral part of the TravelBrands portfolio,” Tanious told PAX. “Through TravelBrands, you not only book a cruise, but everything that goes with it. The flights, the pre and post stays, the transfers, the tours. We are the one-stop shop.”

How did this year’s SeaU unfold? What did travel agents have to say about it all?

Watch PAX’s exclusive video report from the conference here!  

To "sea" more pictures from SeaU, visit and "like" PAX's Facebook page here.

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