GuritaGurita
Request access

A season in practice ​

A worked example tying the chapter together: the liveaboard MY Octopus preparing, selling, and running its Komodo season. Every step links to the page that explains it in full. It assumes the boat itself — decks, cabin types, cabins — is already set up as an asset.

1. Create the route once ​

Reservations creates the itinerary "Komodo 7 nights": Name, Internal ID KOM-7, From Labuan Bajo, To Labuan Bajo, the dive sites, and Status: Draft while it's in progress. On the Translation tab they write the guest-facing name, descriptions, and day-by-day course in English and German; the Images tab gets the gallery. When the texts are ready, the status goes to Active.

2. Schedule the departures ​

For each departure they open the Cabins tab and switch on the cabins being sold — all ten, except the owner's cabin on the two charter-broker trips (that one goes on Excluded Rooms).

3. Price it and go live ​

Each trip needs a price season — once it resolves, the trip's price button turns green. The team walks the Planned list with the Only with price filter as a checklist, sets each finished trip to Confirmed (Gurita blocks overlapping confirmed trips on the same vessel), and checks the two direct bookings flags — remembering they must be on at both the itinerary and the trip for a channel to sell it.

From here, sales happen on the Trip Calendar and through the booking channels; each departure fills up as cabins are booked.

4. The week before departure ​

The cruise director opens the trip's page:

  • Details shows outstanding balances — the Payments card stays red until the last transfer lands.
  • Reports → Guest forms shows who hasn't sent passport data; missing guest forms are created and chased from there.
  • Change Cabin Assignment tidies the boat: the dive club moves onto one deck, the honeymooners get the suite, and the fixed group's cabins are locked so nothing shifts them.
  • Send Mail goes to every confirmed guest with the arrival instructions.

5. Departure day ​

From the trip page's Lists tab the crew prints the paperwork: the harbour-master manifest (a boat list with passport columns from the guest forms), the galley's dietary list, and the dive-deck certification sheet. On the All Customer tab, guests are checked in as they board.

6. After the season ​

The Itinerary report shows revenue and occupancy per departure — which weeks to add, which to drop. Then it's one Copy (All) to lay out next year, and the cycle starts again.