Royal Caribbean Debuts New High-Tech Booking Engine
by Andrew Sheivachman /Royal Caribbean Cruises will launch ESPRESSO Global Reservation System, a new booking engine to replace its existing CruiseMatch system.
ESPRESSO is a tablet-friendly reservations system designed to decrease the number of steps travel agents have to take to book cruises. Royal Caribbean plans to introduce the new system in March.
It will be used for selling Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Pullmantur, and CDF Croisieres de France.
Harnessing technology
“We wanted to harness all the latest technology to deliver the industry’s most advanced reservation system ever,” said Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales, trade support & services, Celebrity Cruises.
“We want agents to focus more on their customers than on their computer screen.”
Agents can visit www.espressocbt.com to access a training tool to explore the new system, or register with www.bookespresso.com to attend upcoming training seminars on the service.
Years in the making
ESPRESSO is the result of years of research and development.
“In 2012 we went on record saying our commitment is to travel partners as our primary distribution system, and that we would make an investment over $100 million in the next five years,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support & services, Royal Caribbean International.
The system’s tablet-friendly interface will auto-populate deals based on clients’ cruise history, for instance, and automatically provide information on client preferences as agents make the booking.
“ESPRESSO dramatically reduces the number of steps to book, from seven to five,” said Freed. “This is part of our commitment to make all our brands the easiest in the industry to do business with.”
No more switching between screens
One of the system’s key innovations is its ability to provide a side-by-side view of groups and individual inventory, allowing agents to find the best prices for their clients, according to Royal Caribbean.
That means agents will no longer have to switch between screens to figure out which cabin is the best deal.
Interactive deck plans are also included so that agents can intuitively show clients the location and amenities of different cabins. They can also compare cabins on the fly or focus on specific types, like accessible cabins or connected rooms.
“Espresso is designed to engage agents and help them sell more cruises, easier,” said Ellen Bettridge, vice president of sales and marketing, Azamara Club Cruises. “It is optimized for tablet devices, which gives agents the freedom to engage their clients whenever or wherever they are.”
Time for training
Royal Caribbean executives are taking to the road in the U.S. and Canada to teach agents how to use the new system.
Training sessions will run for four hours. Two sessions will be conducted in most major U.S. cities.
“Then we are going to do webinars, while sales people and BDMs will be doing training in the offices of travel professionals,” said Ritzenthaler.
“There is zero financial cost for agents to learn.”
CruiseMatch, however, will continue to function for an undetermined amount of time for those agents without the time or inclination to learn the new system.
“Systems will run concurrently for some time to allow our travel partners to learn ESPRESSO,” said Juan Silva, director of trade e-marketing and distribution, Royal Caribbean Cruises.