For the budget conscious organisation, cruises offer very good value for money - not least because of the all-inclusive nature of the product.
As a ball park figure, a seven-day Caribbean cruise on a five star product such as Celebrity Cruises starts at around £1,000 per head, including flights. The cruise-only rate is just £600.
At the top end of the market, £2,600 per head will buy you a trip on the Orient Express to Southampton, six nights cruising in style on the QE2, two nights at the Waldorf Astoria and a return flight on Concorde.
The 'extras' are available at much more reasonable prices than organisers may first expect. For example, a private cocktail party, with an open bar for an hour and hot and cold canapes would be about £15 a head.
One would be hard pushed to match these prices, and the quality of service, in a land-based resort. The scenery is generally better, too.Despite this, the notion of a cruise as exclusive and expensive still remains, ensuring that incentive qualifiers will assume that their organisation has really gone to town in providing their reward - whatever their final bill.
