On March 1, Carnival Cruise Line stopped accepting travel agent e-mails and faxes for basic booking functions through its reservations contact center. Additionally, the contact/call center will no longer send agents e-mail confirmations of bookings. Travel sellers were notified by e-mail in the last two weeks of February. Some were displeased.

“When Carnival told me this I blew my top,” said a travel seller who asked to remain anonymous. “The whole idea of being a travel partner is the wonderful customer service we receive. However it seems now that Carnival does not want to give us the service… . This is not making me a happy camper working with this cruise line.”

Nancy F. Yoffe, ECCS, of a South Carolina Cruise Planners, agreed. “It is real interesting to me how cruise lines talk about their ‘valued travel agent partners,’ yet they are doing anything and everything in their power to make our job more difficult, all the while paying us less commission.”

Carnival Cruise Lines, however, said the move is not an effort to make agents’ jobs more difficult but actually to provide efficiency and “quick, easy access to their reservations.”

In response to questions from Travel Market Report, Carnival released this statement: “Since last year, we have worked hard to increase agents’ level of awareness and engagement with BookCCL.com, our trade portal, and they have quickly come to embrace the many advantages it offers, like convenient access to their clients’ reservations on a 24/7 basis. It makes sense for us to now migrate a number of basic reservations functions to online only so our call center team can remain available to support travel agents in closing sales and assisting with the more complex service issues.”

Among the reservations functions that can now only be done online are:

     * Extend Options (Group & FIT staterooms);
     * Request Booking Confirmations (Travel Agency & Guest Version);
     * Request Group Booking Reports (Group Detail Workup, Guest List, Statement of Group Request);
     * Change Dining Time;
     * and Request Group Program Fee Form.

These news rules apply to all fare codes. The cruise line said it has created several tutorial videos on BookCCL.com to help agents become more familiar with how to do these functions online. Additionally, travel sellers can e-mail esolutions@carnival.com with any questions they have about BookCCL.com.

Concerns

The travel agents Travel Market Report spoke with all said that rather than being efficient, the online only booking policy impedes their ability to provide clients with quality customer service.

While Carnival noted that agents will still be able to call the reservations center to originate bookings, one agent, who asked not to be named, said, “I am concerned that I will not be able to get a live person to talk to. I pride myself on customer service and I expect customer service and support from my travel partners, but I am not sure if I will receive that from Carnival anymore.”

“It will hinder me in the sense that sometimes we need to speak with a real, live person,” Yoffe agreed. “If I am on the phone and cannot ask the reservation agent to send me the e-mail, I have to take the time to go into bookccl.com, sign in and find the info I need and send it to myself. It’s another couple of steps that just aren’t necessary.”

Carnival responded to such concerns by saying a live person will always be available.

“We are always going to have service professionals available to help our customers,” said Vicky Rey, vice president of guest services. “We are asking agents to handle simple transactions that can easily be done via self-service channels. If anyone needs help with a more complex issue or navigating our Web site, we are happy to help.”

Sherry Laskin, owner of Vacation Shoppe, told TMR the new rules are unsettling and might hamper agents’ customer service performance, at least initially, because instead of being able to tell clients, “I’ll get back to you in five minutes,” she may now need to say, “I’ll get back to you in 35 minutes.”

Both Yoffe and Laskin believe the move to automated online functions is a result of the line trying to save money, not a desire to help agents.

“I feel that Carnival is trying to cut their expenses by hiring fewer people,” Yoffe said." I understand that the cruise lines are in business to make money, but there is a limit as to what and where they should cut costs.”

However, Laskin pointed out that other types of suppliers have already moved their reservations functions online and travel agents have had to adapt. For example, with CCRA, a hotel booking wholesaler, “I’ve heard agents say that it is difficult to contact anyone via phone, should you need assistance with your booking,” she said.

“We’ve been spoiled by our ability to reach real people with the cruise lines,” she added. “It’s important to accept the fact that more and more reservations functions will be performed online. As long as agents have the ability to contact a real person via phone for emergencies, doing the majority of the reservations online will be a time saver. At least you won’t have to answer the question, ‘Is there anything else I can help you with?’ a dozen times per phone call.”