Several cruise lines said they have no plans to change their
commission structure for onboard bookings, following the decision by Disney
Cruise Line to cap those commissions at 10%.
A Norwegian Cruise Line spokeswoman said that it continues to “credit
commission back to agents at their current rates if their clients book onboard
for a future cruise. We have no plans to
change to the program.”
Likewise, Holland America Line continues to pay the agency
its normal agreed-upon commission rate for agency guests who book a cruise while onboard, a spokesman said.
MSC Cruises pays the standard commission assigned for the
particular agency of record when a guest books a future cruise onboard, said
Ken Muskat, the line’s executive vice president of sales, PR and guest services
for U.S. operations. "We continue to depend highly on our valued travel
agent partners to promote the Future Cruise program and highlight the benefits
of booking onboard,” he said.
In a statement, Carnival Cruise Line said that it "pays travel
agents their full commission for onboard bookings," and has no plans to cap the amount.
Royal Caribbean International also emphasized to agents that
it wasn’t changing policy. At the Ensemble Travel Group convention in Orlando, senior
vice president of sales Vicki Freed even suggested that Royal was looking for
ways to enhance the program’s value to travel agents.