Princess Cruises, Cunard and P&O Cruises all will move to a flat 5% commission on sales by agents in the U.K. for all 2012 sailings.
The change takes effect March 17 for Princess bookings, April 4 for Cunard and April 5 for P&O.
The lines are marketed by Complete Cruise Solution, the umbrella unit for Carnival U.K.'s cruise brands.
"This move is specific to the U.K. market," said Julie Benson, vice president of public relations for Princess. "We have no intention of changing our approach in North America."
Some U.K. agents hailed the change as a way to curb runaway rebating in the market. U.K. agents typically earn between 12% and 15% commission on cruises, and the industry norm for rebating in recent years has been upward of 10%.
"In the market we have seen increasing discounting of Princess, Cunard and P&O cruises," said Jamie Loizou, sales and marketing director for London-based Mundy Cruising. "The cut in commission will make heavy discounting a thing of the past."
Not all U.K. agents agree. Some called the restructuring "devastating" and said it was a sign that Complete Cruise Solution was looking to substantially increase its direct sales. The company denied that claim, and in a bid to assuage retailers it pledged to eliminate its 5% discount for direct online bookings and to add credit card charges for direct sales.
Giles Hawke, sales director of Carnival U.K., told Travel Weekly U.K. that the aim of the restructuring plan was to regain control of pricing, not to compete with agents.
Even though agents in the U.S. are not affected by the pay cut, the move is raising eyebrows.
"Anytime agency compensation is affected, it's in everybody's best interest to keep close tabs on it," said Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com.