Flying can be a real hassle. Not only can flying be more trouble than it is worth, but it can also be very expensive. When businesses have to factor in the cost of round-trip airfare into their incentive travel budgets, they often find they have few resources available to plan exciting entertainment and dining options for travel participants. Because airfare often requires a large percentage of the travel budget, businesses are often faced with the task of making the remaining funds stretch as much as possible. When planning incentive travel, consider an incentive cruise as a reasonable, affordable, and thrilling option with no flying required.

While participants of an incentive cruise do have to get to port, a number of these ports are located within a five hour drive of many of the major cities. At least 50 percent of the population of the U.S. is within a 5 hour drive of a cruise ship's port. Since a ship charter can cost up to 40 percent less than a land venue, such as a hotel or resort, businesses will not have to worry about making their budgets stretch. Exciting incentive travel can be accomplished without having to pay for expensive airfare or deal with the headache of flying.

When we think of cruise ships in the corporate meeting and event planning world, we usually think of business meetings at sea, conferences held while traveling up the coast or incentive cruises that stop in multiple ports. However, we often overlook the many benefits of using cruise ships for stationary events – as floating hotels, which allows you to take advantage of simple, convenient event planning and reap the money-saving benefits of hosting your event on a ship without ever leaving port.

Whether you are looking for accommodations for out of town participants, a large venue for a conference or trade show, or several smaller meeting spaces for an executive retreat, employee training or award ceremony, you may want to consider a cruise ship venue. Just as you would when planning an event at sea, this allows you to take advantage of one upfront cost and easy planning for catering, equipment, décor, meeting spaces and, if needed, accommodation. Hosting a meeting or event on a docked cruise ship can be particularly cost-effective if your company or client is headquartered in a port city. Attendees can then be responsible for their own transportation to and from the venue and the need for arranging lodgings will be minimal.

Hosting your next meeting or event on a cruise ship in port will add a unique appeal for attendees and can result in significant cost savings for your client or company.