Cruise Lines: We Do Not Compete with Agents

Cruise selling travel agents recognize that cruise lines need to market directly to consumers. What they don’t like is that the cruise companies include their clients in the direct marketing campaigns.
 
However, most agencies have taken a proactive stance – according to a Travel Market Report poll, 73% of respondents said they let their clients know ahead of time that they can book any direct offers their clients get.
 
But just because they’re proactive, doesn’t mean that travel sellers are happy with how the cruise lines approach their clients. Over the past two weeks, TMR has explored the ways in which cruise sellers object to what the cruise lines are doing.
 
In the third, and final, installment of a series on direct marketing by cruise lines, Travel Market Report turned to the cruise lines for response.
 
All that responded were adamant that their direct marketing divisions are not meant to be in competition with travel agents.
 
“We are not putting ourselves up against our most trusted source of business… our direct marketing program is NOT positioned as competition to agents,” a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line told Travel Market Report.
 
“Our direct marketing program is designed to create interest and drive demand across all channels of distribution,” added Jim Berra, chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Lines.
 
Call to Action
 
When asked about the generic calls to action found on the vast majority of direct marketing, Berra responded, “The specifics of the call to action will vary depending on the creative package and whether the recipient is a prospect or past guest, and in the case of past guests, which booking channel they last used.”
 
He added that Carnival makes its direct mail packages available to agents for them to conduct a mailing to their own database. Agents should contact their BDM to pursue this option. “I’d like to see more agents take advantage of the offer to the extent that it is efficient for them to do so within their business model.”
 
Though Norwegian Cruise Line did not speak to the issue of personalization, or lack thereof, on direct mail offers, the spokesperson insisted that the size and font of “call your travel professional” is the exact same as “call us or go to www.ncl.com.”
 
“And we certainly have no frustrations with them,” the line’s spokesperson said, responding to a comment by Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager of CruiseOne and Cruises Inc., in which he said direct marketing by cruise lines may be a symptom of cruise line’s frustration with cruise selling agents (see article).

Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales and trade support & services for Royal Caribbean International pointed out that two of the three calls to action are “travel agent focused.”

“One being ‘see your professional travel agent’ and the other is to our Web site, which has the travel agent locator on it. We like to direct consumers back to travel professionals,” she said.
 
Luxury Lines
 
Unlike the contemporary cruise lines that responded to Travel Market Report’s request for comment, two luxury lines TMR spoke with said they do send out personalized direct marketing pieces – though not always.
 
For instance, Oceania always sends a “welcome home” direct mail piece to guests after they’ve returned home from a cruise. These pieces include a letter with a discount certificate on a future cruise and are personalized with the agency of record. The agent of record also receives a bonus commission certificate to encourage them to close the sale.
 
However, Tim Rubacky, senior director of corporate communication for Oceania, added that regular direct mail campaigns do not have the same level of personalization.
 
“We always encourage consumers to call their travel agent and if they have a good relationship with the agent they have used personally, we have no doubt they will.”
 
Similarly, the spokesperson for Silversea Cruises told TMR the cruise line sends some direct mail pieces to guests that are personalized with the booking agent’s details and some that are not.
 
Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean International had not responded to Travel Market Report’s request for comment at press time.