Should You Go To a Travel Expo? | NY TRAVEL & ADVENTURE SHOW 2024

A few weeks ago (January 2024), we were in New York City for the Travel & Adventure Show -- the largest travel expo of its kind in the United States. Join us in this video as we walk the show, checking out the over 350 exhibitor booths. We also check out the many talks and presentations, including those from travel media celebrities Rick Steves (‪@RickStevesEuropeOfficial‬) and Phil Rosenthal.
Since this is Calling All Ports with Andrew & Diana and cruise travel is our speciality, we highlight the cruise lines and other exhibitors in attendance who fellow cruise travelers might find most interesting. (BTW, if you want to jump ahead to the cruise-specific vendors, that section begins around the 10:15 mark in the video.)
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Music from Artlist | Artist: Dan Zeitune
Disclosure: We received media credentials to the 2024 NY Travel & Adventure Show. However, no other compensation was received for the making of this video.

[@lesleywaghorn1627]

Fantastic insight into travel expos! Even though you weren't looking to buy, how did the travel deals on offer compare with elsewhere? Any of the lesser known cruise lines/ships particularly appeal to you?

[@callingallports]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the video!
The deals being offered seemed fairly standard to ones the lines will periodically offer online. Which is to say: they were good deals, yet not unprecedented. For instance, Viking was offering $25 deposits and that's a special they run at least a couple times per year. The difference, though, is you have to wait for those offers to come around and be diligent to spot them; at a travel show, they're right there for the taking. There's a convenience factor, at the very least. Also, especially for the smaller lines, you're dealing directly with their in-house sales reps and they're motivated to sell; if we were really looking to book on the spot, I imagine it would've been easy to negotiate some extras like added onboard credit, etc.
As for the cruise lines that were most appealing... we're *very* eager to take an Antarctica expedition cruise in the near future (Arctic, too). All the expedition lines you see in the video seemed great. Atlas Ocean Voyages seemed to be the most luxurious in terms of accommodations, cuisine, et al. And yet their pricing is actually quite reasonable. Aurora Expeditions are pioneers in the polar expedition field (30+ years doing them) and offer a great excursion program. They've also just become a Certified B Corporation, which really shows their commitment to sustainability -- obviously something that travelers should be mindful of when venturing into fragile ecosystems like Antarctica.
In terms of more traditional cruising, we'd love to try Scenic's take on ultra-luxury ocean cruising at some point and see how it compares to the likes of Regent. We're also really curious about Hapag-Lloyd. They've won prestigious awards like 5 stars from Insight Guides/Berlitz Cruising, yet we don't know many Americans who've ever cruised with them. We're also really curious to try a non-English speaking line (though they're still welcoming of English speakers, and a couple of Hapag Lloyd's ships officially use English onboard alongside German).