TORONTO — ‘Find a need and fill it’: For anyone looking to succeed in business, truer words were never spoken, and for Matthew Shollar, they’re words to live by.

Shollar is the co-founder of Transcend Cruises, a river cruise company that works exclusively with travel advisors (and meeting planners) with groups of 50 clients or more.

Any travel agent with big groups looking to book into traditional river cruise lines knows how tough it can be to find big blocks of space, especially in these post-pandemic years of sky-high demand.

Transcend aims to fill that need. “Transcend Cruises is the only 100% B2B cruise line,” Shollar tells Travelweek. “Unlike current retail offerings, every sailing is a customized, private departure, built to fit the needs of travel advisors and their valued clients like a glove.”

Rendering of one of Transcend Cruises’ new ships coming in 2025

Everything from the itinerary to the duration to F&B and even the physical configuration of Transcend’s ships is bespoke to each client, adds Shollar.

Multiple venues onboard accommodate all guests for programming. “We also bring the client’s brand to life through a comprehensive suite of digital tech and we provide our client – the charterer – with additional accommodations, a fully enabled office with printing and storage, and a digitally-branded desk right in our lobby,” he adds.

The best part, for agents with groups? “No competition from us!” says Shollar. “No published retail pricing, blackout dates, lost revenue penalties, or heavy marketing costs that go into the costs of chartering.”

Matthew Shollar, co-founder, Transcend Cruises

For 2024 Transcend is operating one ship: Transcend Advance. It has a good pedigree – it was formerly Crystal Mahler. More options will become available when Transcend’s new-build fleet begins to launch in 2025.

The 2024 season on Transcend Advance is getting underway now, and will continue through the end of the year.

The ship is filling up with bookings thanks to Shollar and his team. That team includes Jackie Coulson, well-known in the industry thanks to her years with Trafalgar, Uniworld and Tauck. As Coulson notes, “our client is the charterer and we will work with them to create a 100% customized event for their guest. Think wedding groups, alumni groups, meetings in motion, incentive trips, multi- generational trips, celebrations and more.”

Coulson has been connecting with Canadian travel agents at her coffee chats and training sessions, with several events under her belt and more on the way in the coming months.

In the meantime we got more details on Transcend’s value proposition for agents – and their group clients – from Shollar.

“Every travel advisor that sells groups of around 50 passengers and up can turn the challenge of hosting a group on a larger cruise ship or resort into the incredible client benefits and high satisfaction levels of an exclusive-use, private buyout with Transcend. It’s all we do, and it gets 100% of our focus, rather than being an afterthought,” he tells Travelweek.

Transcend Cruises

Travelweek: How many ships does Transcend have at this point, and can you describe the ships?

Shollar: “Through 2024, we will be operating the Transcend Advance. Our new ships, purpose built for us and our group-focused clients, arrive in 2025 and beyond. The current ship, a more traditional luxury vessel, carries 110 guests in a five-star product and service level; our new ships boast 60 identical, oversized guestrooms that convert in pairs to two-room suites (guest count, room configurations and luxury level set by the client), five spaces on board that host all guests for group programming, up to eight additional breakout spaces, and up to nine dining location options. The ships are built to the latest sustainable standards and are future compliant with upcoming technologies for propulsion, waste, and hotel services improvements.”

Travelweek: Is there a minimum and maximum size for groups onboard?

Shollar: “We can host up to 120 guests on our sailings (110 on the Advance). There’s no minimum, and in fact many of the programs on our new ships will operate as all-suite, with a maximum of 60 guests and a near 1:1 staff to guest ratio.”

Travelweek: What rivers will Transcend be sailing – and to what extent is the itinerary up to the discretion of the charter group?

Shollar: “Transcend ships sail on about 70% of the navigable rivers of Europe – the Rhine, the Moselle, the Main, the Danube, and in Holland/Belgium. By starting with the needs of the particular client – not the canned, consumer-focused program typical in groups and charters – we can build out specific and unusual itineraries that focus on the interests, the demographics, and/or program needs of the group travelling, and the best duration for the group. We have a three-night minimum. By taking this approach, every client gets a program that fits them best – including sailings like roundtrips and the avoidance of seasonal water level issues.”

Travelweek: Would there ever be more than one group onboard at a time?

Shollar: “Transcend does not sail ‘part charters’ with unrelated groups put aboard one sailing by us. We do, however, allow agents and agencies to share a charter contract, so advisors that might each have less than a full ship can join together to operate a private program as a partnership.”

Travelweek: Is this concept a first-of-its-kind?

Shollar: “While chartering and group departures are well known in both the ocean and river cruise industries, working with B2C companies on these programs have presented numerous challenges and ‘pain points’ for advisors and their clients. Transcend has been created to eliminate these barriers and provide a product that is not currently available – including on land.”

Travelweek: Were you hearing from agents that it was tough to find charter space on regular river cruise ships?

Shollar: “Chartering is complex, and the lion’s share of the attention of the present market is on their retail clientele. Unless the advisor was willing to take a ship built for another purpose, on a date and itinerary that suited the cruise line to sell, at a price that that has no transparency (and is always subject to competitive pressure by host line discounting), it can be nearly impossible to secure the space that the group needs.”

Travelweek: In recent weeks you’ve been offering some seminars to travel agents in the GTA and Ottawa. What’s been the reaction from agents so far?

Shollar: “People are beyond excited to learn about Transcend, and have responded really well to our focus on their needs and that of their valued clientele. The most common refrain is ‘you have thought of everything!’”

Travelweek: Do agents book air through Transcend as well?

Shollar: “Transcend does not have an air department. We allow the agent to make those arrangements or can furnish a third-party air booking service as needed.”

Travelweek: What about agent commission?

Shollar: “Transcend sells our programs on a net basis, and unlike other cruise lines and hotels, does not cap commissions. We work with our partner, the advisor, to incorporate whatever commission or override they see fit. We also offer a unique volume-based loyalty program called Boatload, which can add half- or full-gratuities, shipboard credits, all-inclusive beverages, and hold periods. These benefits sit at the agency level and can be extended to any client.”

For more details see transcend.cruises.com or get in touch with Coulson at (705) 796-2224 or Jackie.Coulson@transcend.cruises.

This article appeared in the March 28, 2024 edition of Travelweek; click here.