Carnival: Agents didn’t get paid due to ‘glitch’

Posted on 6 February, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Cruise Line has fixed a “glitch” in its system that prevented the payment of commissions and refunds, according to an email that Joni Rein, the line’s vice president of worldwide sales, sent to travel agents on Wednesday.

Commissions and refunds due Jan. 22 will be paid Friday, Feb. 6, along with commissions and refunds processed between Jan. 29 and Feb. 4, Carnival said. Commissions and payments due for the following week, Jan. 23 through Jan. 29, will be paid Friday, Feb. 13, along with the current week’s payments.

One agent said that Carnival was three weeks behind on paying commissions to her agency, and another said that Carnival had missed one week of payments to his agency.

An agent told Travel Weekly that Carnival didn’t know about the lapse until agencies began calling the cruise line. She said that she had to call the cruise line and her sales rep to get a response.

She said Carnival responded with two emails: one on Friday, Jan. 30, saying it was working “’round the clock” to fix the problem, the second on Monday, Feb. 2, saying that it was having trouble fixing the problem because of Wave season.

On Wednesday, the agency received the email from Rein. It was a mass email to travel professionals and included information on the updated payment schedule.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your understanding,” Rein wrote in the email. “Most importantly, we thank you for your continued support.”

Carnival Vista the product of healthy competition

Posted on 28 January, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Business competition isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. It led to ruinous price wars in the late 19th century in many industries.

But it’s also a great goad to improvement. That seems to be what’s happening in the cruise industry, especially in the contemporary market, where a remarkable series of interesting ships have been coming out of Europe’s shipyards.

Judging by the renderings released last week, the latest to join the fray is the Carnival Vista, coming in 2016.

While still bearing the imprint of Funship 2.0, the Vista will have a number of novel elements not shared by other Carnival Cruise Line ships.

Guests on the SkyRide cycle 150 feet above the sea.

SkyRider, a recumbent cycle that runs a circuit around and above the sports deck, may be the most noticeable of the bunch. But there’s also an IMAX theater, part of a Multiplex area; a new kaleidoscopic water slide; a casual seafood restaurant; an area of suites with hammocks; and a new approach to family staterooms. With the Vista, Carnival will become the first cruise line to brew its own beer at sea.

The cluster of new features is reminiscent of two other ships introduced in 2014: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Getaway and Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum of the Seas. The new deck of indoor/outdoor restaurant space on the Vista’s Deck 5 looks remarkably like the Waterfront on Norwegian’s Breakaway/Getaway ships.

The Vista's resort-style pool deck.

Norwegian, Royal and Carnival have been rivals for more than 40 years, but their competition in ship design is as vital as it has ever been. Each is pushing the other to develop better and more exciting new features, and the benefits are accruing to cruise passengers who have a fantastic array of fun things to do on a ship.

And of course, there’s a lot for travel agents to talk about and sell on these new ships. So here’s a salute to healthy competition. Long may it reign.

Carnival Cruise Line to return to Europe

Posted on 23 January, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Cruise Line will make a return to Europe in 2016 when it launches new ship Carnival Vista.

The news comes after the line announced in May 2013 that it would have no ships sailing in Europe during 2014 and 2015, citing increasing airfares as the reason behind the decision.

New itineraries for summer 2016 on Carnival Vista include Athens, Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Izmir, Corfu, Livorno, Marseille, Messina (Sicily), Naples, Rome, Trieste and Valetta.

The ship will have its first European sailing on May 1 and will then have 18 sailings in Europe before moving on to New York in October. The ship’s official homeport has yet to be revealed.

The ship will have the first IMAX cinema at sea, as well as new dining options, more alfresco dining and the biggest Waterworks of any Carnival ship. The ship will also have a new Havana pool at the back of the ship, with Havana cabana staterooms available to book.

Mark Tamis (pictured), senior vice president of guest operations, said: “I really feel and we do [at Carnival] that this is the greatest ship to date and certainly the best ship to come from Carnival Cruise Line.

“This is about building on past success. This is built of the success of Carnival Breeze and what is rolling out across the whole Carnival fleet.

“We set out to make this our most innovative ship to date. This is about creating connects and a connection to the sea. This ship, like no other ship, brings that all together.“

When the line announced it was pulling away from Europe in last year, the company said it didn’t believe Americans, who make up the vast majority of its passengers, would pay increased airfares to cross the Atlantic.

In May last year, agents were praised for switch-selling customers to book a Caribbean cruise with Carnival rather than a European one.

During a VIP agent trip on Carnival Breeze last year, Lynn Torrent, executive vice-president os sales and guest services, said the line’s bosses were watching the moves being made by other international brands. She said Carnival was sitting back and seeing what other lines were doing in the UK market before making a decision.