Not bad for a travel agency based in Mississauga, "a town most people can't even pronounce," laughs Ms. Tully, 50.

Her 46 employees - mainly women - work around the clock to secure the cabins, private cars, champagne welcomes and customized itineraries demanded by a discerning and global clientele, including a growing number of Hollywood names.

Ms. Tully's love affair with luxury cruising began 23 years ago in her Chicago hometown, when she was sent as a young travel agent to Miami to inspect some cruise ships. She boarded the deluxe SS Norway, took one look at the elegant black slate floors and glittering lights, and was smitten.

She returned to Chicago and called the ship's district sales manager with a question: "What do I have to do to get a job like yours?" She joined Norwegian Cruise Lines and met her sales goals in months.

"I thought I had the best job in the entire world," she says. "And it still gives me goose bumps: I get to sell people their dreams."

The sudden death of both of her parents led her to quit her job in Chicago in 1986 and follow a romantic interest to Toronto. When the romance faded, she found herself living in a hotel near the airport, caught between her Chicago past and an unknown future.

It was her fervent belief in the joys of travel that spurred her agency's impromptu beginnings from that hotel room.

"I wasn't a landed immigrant, so I couldn't stay in Canada unless I could prove I could contribute to the economy and hire other Canadians," she recalls. "I didn't have a social insurance number, I couldn't rent an apartment ..."

Undaunted, she withdrew the money she had invested in her retirement account and opened a small office in Mississauga in 1987. By 1990, Cruise Professionals had broken all records for Royal Viking Line, which had to charter two planes from Toronto to carry passengers booked by her company.

Last year, when the sumptuous 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity set sail on its world cruise, 18 per cent of the passengers making the full, 110-day trip had been booked by Cruise Professionals - a stunning sales performance, especially for a small travel agency with a single office.

Cannily, Ms. Tully refrained from putting her company's address in her national newspaper ads, giving customers a toll-free 800 number to call instead. Once she had them on the phone, she could learn more about their needs and ideas before recommending a ship or itinerary.

"Every ship is perfect for somebody," she notes wryly, "but the perfect ship has yet to be built."

She also advertised in weekend newspapers, reasoning that was the time when busy and successful people had time to read a travel section.

Her marriage to Brad Tully, a self-confessed techno-geek, in 1995 catapulted her agency onto the Internet at a time when even the cruise lines themselves did not have websites.

Now a substantial portion of their clients come from all around the world, finding the agency via the Net. "I couldn't afford Brad if I wasn't married to him," Ms. Tully laughs.

One of the keys to the company's success is that it has one of the highest employee retention rates in the industry, with many staff members serving more than 10 years. "You've got to treat your employees like the assets they are," she says. "You've got to keep them happy, because if they are happy, the customers see it - it changes everything."

Her staff - including a 15-member concierge department that makes hotel, restaurant, car and even hairdressing arrangements for clients - are paid by salary and bonuses rather than commission.

This enables them to sell clients "the right ship for them, not just the most expensive one," she says.

The concierge staff is not a profit centre, Ms. Tully adds, "but they're what keeps our clients coming back." A prominent Hollywood producer and his entourage were recently treated to an exclusive private dinner served in the ancient amphitheatre at Ephesus in Turkey, thanks to the concierge staffers.

"He's sent us an amazing amount of business since," says Ms. Tully (who declines to name her celebrity clients for reasons of confidentiality).

One perk for Cruise Professionals staff are the frequent trips they take on the luxury ships they sell. "Clients are

really impressed when their agent knows the name of the ship's maître d'," she notes.

A one-week cruise on a luxury ship starts at about $1,500 a person, not including airfare, and can climb to $800 a day per passenger. Cruise Professionals doesn't compete in the discount end of the cruise market. "If you sell only by price," she explains, "you've nothing else to sell."

Along with ocean-going cruises, the company has moved into pre- and post-cruise itineraries, putting it on track to become one of the top producers for luxury land operators such as Abercrombie & Kent and Micato Safaris.

Ms. Tully says expanding her business will consist of adding staff to the Mississauga office. She says she is frequently asked about franchising Cruise Professionals, but isn't interested in having multiple locations. "You lose the hands-on approach," she says. Besides, she adds, "that's what the Web and an 800 number gives us."

Travel industry by the numbers

2,600 - Number of travel agencies in Canada

60% - Proportion of agencies that employ four or fewer travel professionals

18,000 - Number of retail travel professionals in Canada

12.1 million - Number of global cruise passengers in 2006

Staying afloat in small business

Mary Jean Tully, founder and CEO of the Cruise Professionals, offers these tips for a long-lived, successful business:

Treat your employees like the assets they are. It is vital to retain staff who have built key client relationships.

Be sure your sales staff use the products they're selling. Many travel agency employees have never actually been on the luxury liners they're trying to sell, or to the destinations they're talking about, and it shows, she says.

Answer your e-mails promptly, and sign them with a real person's name. "I can't tell you how many Web-based companies drop the ball there," Ms. Tully says.

Have real, live staff answer the phones. Customers want to talk with real, knowledgeable staff. They don't want to be passed to other departments or to voice mail.

Advertise regularly. Keep your name out there.

Love what you sell. There's no substitute for enthusiasm.

Listen to your clients. Sell them what they really want to buy.