RCI Adds Onboard Booking Inducement to Loyalty Program

Royal Caribbean International said that travel agent commissions will be protected when their clients who are members of its Crown & Anchor Society loyalty program book a future cruise onboard–an exclusive new C&A perk under newly adjusted benefits of the program.

RCI announced that Crown & Anchor Society members will have access to new, exclusive Onboard Booking Bonus offers when they book a future cruise onboard and receive an onboard credit to spend on the future sailing. That credit can also be used with either a Crown & Anchor Savings Certificate or a Balcony and Suite Discount (for Platinum, Diamond or Diamond Plus members). “Travel agent partners will continue to earn commission for onboard bookings,” according to the RCI announcement.

Under another enhancement to the program, Crown & Anchor Society members will get priority notices and access to new developments, special events and exclusive offers that reward members for their loyalty. Travel agent partners also will be notified at the same time, the line said.

RCI further announced that an additional Crown & Anchor Society Loyalty Staff member also has been appointed aboard each ship to offer more personalized service to each member guest, including helping them reserve future cruises to take advantage of the new and enhanced vacation offers, available only to Crown & Anchor Society members.

In a press conference announcing the changes, Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of marketing, said that while membership in the Crown & Anchor Society numbers in the millions, only about one-quarter of its members book future cruises onboard their current vacation.

RCI executives, including senior vice president of sales Vicki Freed, in the past have urged agents to increase their share of repeat bookings, noting that only about 20% of clients return to an agency to book a future cruise.

Lucy Hirleman, CTC, MCC, Berkshire Travel, Inc., Newfoundland, NJ, said the C&A program changes will “absolutely” help her agency generate more repeat sales on RCI. “Strike while the iron is hot, or the satisfaction rate is at it’s highest,” she told TMR.

However, she would prefer to get “news” from RCI a day or so BEFORE the client gets notices as a C&A member.

Sandy Elson, MCC, owner of Your Cruise Concierge, LLC, said whether or not the C&A onboard purchase perk generates more repeat business remains to be seen.

Elson added that Royal Caribbean’s passengers have always been able to book a future cruise onboard their current cruise, and get onboard credit for that future cruise, with the booking released to their original travel agent. My understanding of the changes in the C&A program is that now only C&A members will be allowed to book a future cruise onboard.

“My clients are happy about getting some of the perks back that were taken away from all but the Diamond or Diamond Plus members last year. Will this help with repeat RCI business? I’m not sure if it will increase passenger retention or just make those who would book RCI again anyway a little happier to do so. Time will tell…,” said Elson.

Indeed, said Les-Lee Roland, of the Package Deal, Sarasota, FL, there’s nothing new about onboard booking and her seminars for agents include tips on leveraging onboard bookings as one way to “triple their commissions.”

“Royal Caribbean has one of the best policies — the onboard booking for $100 can be applied to any cruise and the client literally has years to make the decision on which cruise they want.  Princess has a similar policy, good for four years, and theirs is refundable,” Roland told TMR. “Agents should know about this [onboard booking policy] and should prepare their clients in advance.  I ALWAYS give my clients an already completed form and tell them to just drop it off at the desk or give it to the rebooking agent.  I have a 90% return of rebooking for every client I send on any cruise that offers this promotion.”

“So yes Crown & Anchor promos can help for repeat business.”

She said that Royal’s new C&A member perk of priority notices of special promos is “great opportunity” for travel agents because the line is making it easier to find out what the promo is “without having to link from an e-mail to go to THEIR website, sign in and go through a myriad of screens to find it.“ Agents should contact all their RCI clients, and offer to assist them with their offers.  “But first, they should make certain, each one is registered with Crown & Anchor. That’s where RCI is different; the clients must register. On other cruise lines, they are automatically given a past passenger number.”

Referring to RCI’s announcement of its new C&A benefits, Roland said, “I will admit that the recorded automated phone messages that C&A clients received from RCI president and CEO Adam Goldstein was a little confusing. I hate those automated phone messages, and I did have people ask me what it was all about. I received one as well, saying new things were coming. And the public has no idea of who Adam is — most did not remember his name.”

The C&A program, Roland said, is one response to the increases in cruise capacity, with NCL’s new mega ship Norwegian Epic the latest to come to market. With the C&A announcement, said Roland, “It seems like RCI is trying everything to boost business. The expression, ‘Everything old is new again,’ fits this promotion perfectly. And I’ll add the other expression – ‘Won’t hurt.’”

Encouraging more onboard bookings will also help RCI’s cash flow generated from operations, which the company noted in its report for the first quarter “provides us with a significant source of liquidity.” Net cash provided by operating activities increased $299 million to $412.9 million for the first quarter of 2010 compared to $113.9 million for the same period in 2009, Royal reported.

The increase, it said, was mainly due to an increase in cash generated from ticket and onboard sales during the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
“We are focused on ensuring adequate cash and liquidity,” Royal stated in reporting its result for this year’s first quarter.

In addition to onboard booking bonuses, Crown & Anchor members will be recognized every time they advance to a new level; and get new enhanced benefits in their Ultimate Value Booklet, which contain new onboard savings for beverages, Internet packages, photo and logo merchandise, supplementing popular casino and spa discounts, to name a few.

In the press conference with cruise writers, O’Rourke said the Ultimate Value Booklet is redesigned to be aligned with changed consumer demand and that Diamond Plus members will now get their own booklet. RCI stated that it will upgrade members at the Diamond level, when and where available, starting with Diamond Plus level guests with the most credits and then Diamond level members and with earlier booking guests at that level.

But some Diamond-level C&A member were upset over RCI’s taking away their Concierge Lounge perks, according to a report in USA Today, citing message boards at consumer cruise sites like CruiseCritic.com.

In its announcement, Royal Caribbean said the Concierge Lounges on most ships, except Freedom Class, are too crowded to accommodate all the Diamond level members, so now the perk is limited to Diamond-Plus members.

A lot of the consumer comments on the CruiseCritic message board focused on the new perks they expect to get in the new Ultimate Value Booklet, with discounted Internet rates and free laundry usage among the favorites.