Royal Caribbean’s Travel Advisor Loan Program is Now Open for Applications

Royal Caribbean Group’s Pay it Forward program, which allocates $40 million to support travel advisors with interest-free loans, is now open for applications.

Advisors can access the application, along with the details and eligibility parameters, at CruisingPower.com, Royal’s dedicated travel advisor portal that includes the Pay It Forward site. Past advisors who have booked with Royal will already have a login, and those that don’t can create one to access the program’s details.

As long as an advisor is the owner or authorized representative from his or her agency, and the agency had earned at least $4,000 in commission for bookings from Royal Caribbean Group brands sailed between July and December 2019, they will most likely qualify.

However, those in California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington D.C., which are areas that are not currently eligible for the program, will not qualify even if they meet the other criteria. Royal said that it is working “to extend availability to these locations” and will keep advisors up to date on that progress moving forward.

“Understanding that the events of 2020 were debilitating and, in some cases, paralyzing to so many businesses, the Pay It Forward Program is designed to help our travel partner’s rebuilding and recovery process,” Royal said in a message to its travel partners on Tuesday.

Royal originally announced the program in December, right before the holidays, and said it was the second part of its RCL Cares Program.

The first part, which debuted in January, gave travel advisors access to a Royal Caribbean sales rep to help them navigate the ins and outs of the CARES Act. That program had received overwhelmingly positive feedback from travel advisors.

Now, with the Pay It Forward program accepting applications, the second part of RCL Cares is open.