CUNARD
LINE will give passengers on the Queen Mary 2 a full
refund of the cruise fare between their embarkation point and Rio
de Janeiro after the ship, which has been slowed by propulsion
problems, cut three calls from its itinerary. The line increased
its initial offer of a 50% refund last week after some passengers
complained that the offer was not generous enough to compensate for
the itinerary changes. One of the QM2s four propulsion pods was
damaged on Jan. 17 as it struck the ship channel during an attempt
to depart Fort Lauderdale. The ship, which is on a cruise around
South America, left Fort Lauderdale two days late and missed calls
in St. Kitts, Barbados and Salvador, Brazil.
CARNIVAL
CRUISE LINES unveiled what it calls the first social
networking/group planning tool in the industry, CarnivalConnections.com, which offers guest-written
message boards and cruise reviews to help travelers select the trip
that matches their interests and lifestyles. It offers users an
electronic invitation tool with which a group coordinator selects
the cruise, including ship name, departure point, cruise duration
and itinerary, and forwards information via e-mail to group
members. Agents can use the site as an electronic groups marketing
tool.
ROYAL
CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL kicked off an advertising campaign
in the style of home movies, designed to tell the vacation story
from a customers point of view. The four Create Your Own Adventure
ads will run on primetime TV, during early and late-night network
slots, as well as on cable. Two additional spots are in production
and will air later this year.
MSC CRUISES
SIGNED UP more than 2,500 retailers to its Web-based
Caribbean Select Agents education program and unveiled prizes to
promote the effort. The line has developed an agency Web site that
provides training program data and marketing tools for retailers at
www.msccruisesagent.com. The program ends Feb. 28, and
participants are eligible to win prizes, such as bonus commissions,
guaranteed availability for agent rates, Starbucks gift cards, logo
items and a grand prize of a seven-night cruise for two on the
Opera.