Niche Travel: Tom Baker Lives the Cruise Life

If you want to book a cruise, Tom Baker is your guy. He’s been cruising for nearly 47 years and has sailed on 250 ships.

“I was hired the day I graduated from college,” he said. “My own agent hired me at Ask Mr. Foster Travel in Woodland Hills, Calif., as she knew I had promise and knew more about ships than anyone she had ever met before.”

Baker, president and founder of CruiseCenter in Houston, took his first cruise at the ripe old age of five, when he sailed on a trans-Atlantic itinerary aboard Norwegian America Line’s Sagafjord. “It was with my grandparents, who raised me in Los Angeles,” he said.

Seventy-five percent of his business comes from selling premium lines like Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line (HAL), Oceania, and such luxury lines as Crystal Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and Silversea Cruises.

“Cruising in the 1960s and 1970s, when first class was just that, was the training ground for understanding what luxury travel really is and was,” he said, adding that back then he had the opportunity to sail on such legendary lines as Royal Viking Line and Sitmar Cruises – in addition to Norwegian America Line.

“There was ample opportunity to understand how real service was offered,” he said. “It was a special time and led to my love for travel and for cruising.”

Baker, who is a Conde Nast Traveler Top Traveler Specialist, was also selected by the publication to build a bespoke family cruise experience for its 25^th anniversary World On Sale program.

The itinerary was aboard Norwegian Epic, with accommodations in the all-suite Haven. It encompassed 20 families and included a pre-cruise, two-night suite stay at the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona with all private transfers and guided one-of-a-kind port experiences.

“We had private experiences in places like Pompeii with the opening of a not-publicly-seen villa and an archaeologist talking about the ruins and most recent activity and excavation,” he said.

Other activities included Michelin-starred meals ashore each day. “It was extraordinary,” he said, “and a feat to pull off for a large grouping of families with all private services,” he said.

The vacation was so popular, he said, that he’s creating another go-round for Conde Nast this year, this time with 15 families aboard Norwegian Jade.

Baker is able to arrange such complicated trips in part because of his encyclopedic knowledge of the cruise industry. “To be a World’s Leading Cruise Expert with Conde Nast you have to know all products and keep up with the constant flux of changes, refurbishments and enhancements,” he said. “It is critical to fly to a port and see as many ships on a weekend, take fam trips, and open yourself to different perspectives other than your own desire.”

Baker is also able to view cruising through another lens: that of cruise executive. From 1987 to 1994 he served as a business development manager for HAL. “It was a great training ground to learn corporate culture, watch the industry evolve quickly at a massive growth inception period, and have the opportunity to be a part of the fast-growing Carnival Corporation brand in its heyday,” he said.

Although he found the career experience with HAL to be invaluable, Baker found he missed sailing on a wide swath of ships. “I was always yearning to see more than the HAL product and loved to try other brands,” he said.

Thus CruiseCenter was born in 1994. “I decided to return to my retail roots with the hope of becoming my own boss. Twenty years later here we are.”

During his 20 years heading up CruiseCenter, Baker has experienced the up and downs of the cruise retail world. “Some years, like the last three, have been very good,” he said. “Some years were remarkable and some not so good.”

One of the most formidable challenges of a cruise agent is dealing with what Baker calls cruise lines’ “erratic” pricing models. “I often have to sell and resell the same cruise to the same guest several times due to price drops,” he said. “This instability is huge added work, and it’s sometimes a battle to get pricing protected, which causes angst on all ends.”

Also, today’s traveler, Baker said, expects more. “You have to be a subject matter expert on all aspects of travel and a total generalist,” he said. “Guests want air deals, hotel rates, upgrades, and the entire kitchen sink in one tidy quickly booked package.”

They also want customized experiences, Baker said. “More and more guests want private excursion travel in ports and do not want big group or cruise line excursions,” he noted. “A good agent needs to know these private guides, tour companies, and resources well and be able to leverage a good option for guests who want this.”

 Simply put, Baker has been able to convert his love of ships into a thriving career. “I find it relaxing to be at sea and I love the sea. I love sailing in and out of exotic ports, enjoy the resort atmosphere and the ability to meet others in a relaxed environment while having a great time sampling ports,” he said. “It is just terrific.”