The Cruise Lines International Association's second annual World's Largest Cruise Night (WLCN) promotion on Oct. 19 had almost double the participation of last year's event, growing from 427 agencies in 2005, to 829 this year, the association revealed.

Terry Dale, president and CEO of CLIA, said the level of participation shows that "CLIA travel agencies understand the benefits of consumer promotions. WLCN also clearly showcased how innovative CLIA retailers are at finding new and exciting ways of bringing consumers through their doors, which ultimately results in higher commissions."

The event was the centerpiece of CLIA's National Cruise Vacation Month and was designed to provide consumers with cruise vacation information.

Some of the more creative, successful events, according to CLIA, included:

• Patti Cash of Magic Cruises in Worthington, Ohio, hosted an event in conjunction with Cord Camera of Columbus, with U.S. postal officials present, enabling attendees to have passport photos taken and passports expedited.

"We expedited 47 passports in three hours," Cash said, adding that approximately 150 consumers attended.

• Academy Travel in Manahawkin, N.J., drew 250 people to a local Holiday Inn property for an evening event targeted at families with Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line participating. Academy Travel said that the event, which featured costumed pirates and princesses, could result in as many as 100 bookings.

• At CruiseOne in Greenville, S.C., Debbie McLees designed a WLCN promotion with Food Network chef Paula Deen, who will be the featured chef on a cooking theme cruise aboard Royal Caribbean International's Liberty of the Seas. The two-day promotion welcomed 60 prospective travelers who participated in cooking classes conducted by Paula Deen at two local restaurants.

"Everyone who attended was really excited about it," McLees said. "We've already had at least 10 different couples call in and commit to the cruise."  

To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna Jainchill at jjainchill@travelweekly.com.