During these difficult times, Carnival Cruise Line still has travel advisors top of mind.
To that end, the brand is enhancing its “Onboard With You” pledge by boosting agent commissions and maintaining earning rates into 2021, according to Adolfo Perez, senior vice president of global sales and trade marketing for Carnival.
The line will provide an extra 1% bonus commission on new retail reservations made through www.goccl.com or other online booking tools through June 30. What’s more, agents can keep their current 2020 commission rates for 2021, even if they don’t meet the requirements for this year.
“If you think about an airline program, they’re holding onto a passenger’s status for an extra year, and given the circumstances, this program is similar,” Perez said. “Cruise lines have either revenue targets or booking targets that set commission rates for the following year, and different tier levels apply. With the pause in our operations, hitting those targets — and remaining at the current commission level agents have in 2020 — is going to be difficult. We just decided we would protect everybody’s 2020 commission rates for 2021.”
In fact, this applies across all of Carnival Corporation’s North American brands, including Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn Cruise Line.
This is in addition to Carnival’s commission protection for fully paid bookings canceled due to COVID-19, as well as commissions offered on the value of future cruise credits (FCC). These efforts ensure that agents are compensated for the original reservation and the work to rebook clients applying their FCCs.
“We thought it was the right thing to do to protect their commission on those canceled sailings, and as of 2016, we were the first cruise line to announce that we’re paying commission on the full value of FCCs,” Perez said. “We believe that the advisors work hard to get the first booking — and have to work really hard to get the second booking — so it encourages them to help us reduce the number of cancellations and gives them an incentive to rebook their clients on a future sailing.”
We believe that the advisors work hard to get the first booking — and have to work really hard to get the second booking — so it encourages them to help us reduce the number of cancellations and gives them an incentive to rebook their clients on a future sailing.
A new video from Perez and the Carnival team outlines the commitment to and gratitude for travel advisors.
And for clients who have current apprehensions about the state of cruising, Perez encourages constant communication.
“One of the most important things is that a travel advisor stay in touch with their clients and really empathize with them,” he said. “They should also be educating themselves and encouraging their clients to become educated on the facts of COVID-19 and on the facts of cruising as a safe option. Ultimately, it’s our No. 1 goal to provide safe, healthy and enjoyable cruise vacations for our guests, for our crew members and the places that we visit. So, it’s in all of our best interests — not just Carnival’s — to really focus on ensuring that that continues.”
He added that the company had been enhancing health and safety protocol prior to the pause in the company’s operations.
“We had already started dramatically improving our preboarding information, including temperature checks and health questionnaires, as well as making sure that the ships are sanitized and cleaned now more than ever.”
The Details
Carnival Cruise Line
www.goccl.com
Read more from TravelAge West about the COVID-19 outbreak.
