ARLINGTON, Texas -- The first booking at Carnival Cruise Line's
Texas-based Carnival Vacation Store, made June 23, was
"thru-passed" to a travel agent: Ruth Friedman, manager of HMS
Travel in Arlington, Carnival officials said.
Friedman earned credit for the booking, a seven-day Caribbean
cruise aboard 102,000-GRT Carnival Triumph, after her client
visited the 130-square foot retail island, which opened last week
at the Parks at Arlington mall near Dallas.
When the Carnival sales associate who made the booking inquired
about the client's travel agent preference, the client named HMS.
The associate then transferred the booking to HMS, which will
handle the client's inquiries through departure.
Friedman said she previously was "skeptical" about the Carnival
Vacation Store concept, but after witnessing "How easy it is to
book a cruise at the mall," and earning a commission on a sale, she
said, "I don't feel threatened at all by the store's presence."