Source: Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence

Aquila’s Ambra Attus leads training in the Dominican Republic.

NEW BRUNSWICK, Canada (December 17, 2025) — While the cruise industry races toward 36 million passengers in 2025, forward-thinking destinations are discovering a powerful competitive advantage: strategic training that aligns cruise lines, local stakeholders and frontline staff around shared goals. The Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence has built its reputation on this approach, with a track record of helping destinations strengthen collaboration and delivering measurable guest satisfaction improvements that keep them on coveted itineraries.

“Destinations are making impressive investments in infrastructure and marketing, but the smartest ones recognize there’s another lever to pull,” said Beth Hatt, Founder of the Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence. “When you invest in training that brings cruise lines, local government, tour operators and cultural sites into alignment, you create something competitors can’t easily replicate.”

Unlike traditional approaches, Aquila specializes in the unique dynamics of cruise tourism — where thousands of guests arrive simultaneously, form impressions in a matter of hours, and whose collective experience determines whether a destination becomes a must-include port, is added to a land-based visit or gets replaced by a better-coordinated competitor.

Real Results Across the Caribbean

Aquila’s partnership-centered training model has delivered concrete outcomes:

• Puerto Rico: Frontline service training with cultural storytelling integration led to 30% improvement in satisfaction scores, reinforcing San Juan’s position as the Caribbean’s premier homeport.
• Dominican Republic: National training initiative across five ports aligning operators and stakeholders around guest experience priorities, laying the foundation for long-term improvements in service consistency and satisfaction.
• Aruba: Supporting the integration of local artisans and cultural programming into cruise offerings to enrich the island’s tourism narrative, while also expanding its Tourism Excellence Training for all five cruise tour operators.
• St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Strategic stakeholder training sessions aligned tourism officials with cruise line requirements, positioning the nation for expanded itinerary inclusion.

As new mega-ships enter service and competition for itinerary space intensifies, destinations that excel at collaboration are pulling ahead.

“Excellence in cruise tourism is built through partnership and partnership is built through training,” Hatt said. “When everyone from port officials to taxi drivers to museum staff and tour operators understands their role in the guest experience and how to work together, magic happens. That’s what sets winning destinations apart.”

With decades of experience bridging the gap between cruise line expectations and destination capabilities, Aquila continues to set the standard for comprehensive cruise tourism training that delivers results.

About Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence

Aquila is the leading destination training provider for the global cruise industry. They offer training strategies for international destinations, tour companies, tour guides, and front-line operators. With over 35 years’ experience in the cruise industry, Aquila is committed to cruise destination success through values-driven partnership with cruise lines and destinations.

For more information on Aquila Center for Cruise Excellence and its training programs, visit cruiseexcellence.com

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