We’ve rounded up FAM trips and commission perks from four leading cruise lines.
European Waterway announced it’s offering a 50 percent discount on select departures to qualified travel agents. Agents can cruise to Burgundy on June 29 aboard Art de Vivre on the Canal du Nivernais, including transfers to and from Paris. Aboard La Belle Epoque or L’Impressionniste, agents can explore the Canal de Bourgogne in Burgundy, including wine tastings, tours of Beaune, Dijon and more. Transfers to and from Paris are also included. The Gascony tour, departing on June 22 aboard Rose, tours the South of France and includes visits to medieval bastide towns, as well as transfers to and from Toulouse. Departing on June 29 (or July 6) aboard Panache, you can sail on the Canal de la Mane au Rhin visiting storybook villages, experiencing diverse cultures, great wines and vists to Rene Lalique museum, castles and more, including transfers to and from Toulouse.
For more information and additional itineraries, call (877) 879-8808 or visit gobarging.com.
Pacific Delight Tours is offering a 13-day FAM to China from Nov. 10-23, 2014. Agents will visit Bejing, Shanghai, Xi’an, and Chongqing, as well as sail along the Yangtze River with a 5-day cruise aboard the Victoria Anna, which was renovated in 2013. The trip will visit the Three Gorges, The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City in Beiging, as well as Shanghai’s old town, Xi’an, and the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit. Onboard agents can participate in educational lectures from experienced English-speaking Victoria Cruises river guides. The FAM also includes stays at the Ritz-Carlton and Shangri-La hotels in Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai, as well as private balcony Executive Suites on the Victoria Anna featuring white-glove service, access to exclusive ship areas, complimentary WiFi, a la carte dining, shoe shine service and reserved seating for evening entertainment. Rates start at $2,499 pp dbl including air fare with departure from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Agents can bring a companion for $2,699. For more information, call (800) 221-7179 or visit pacificdelighttours.com.
MSC Cruises launched new travel agent-friendly initiatives under the MSC True Partnerships Serving You program, offering 5 percent commission on all pre-paid special services pre-booked by agents for their clients. In addition to the commissionable shore excursions, hotel packages, transfers and airfare, agents can now also gain commission on spa treatments, specialty restaurants, beverage packages, and stateroom celebration packages. MSC Cruises will also continue to pay 10 percent on pre-paid cruise insurance coverage.
Now through July 31, MCS Cruises offers a 60-day Balcony Bonanza Cast Back booking incentive for all MSC Divina Caribbean 7- and 10-night sailings between Aug. 2 and Dec. 20, 2014. The incentive offers agents 25 percent commission on all Balcony Category staterooms, as well as $150 per stateroom shipboard credit.
As of June 2, travel agents have the opportunity to earn tour conductor credits (TC) by booking via individual reservations at the FIT rate without the need to block group inventory. One TC will be earned for every 20 full fared guests on the same sail date for all bookings made up to 75 days prior to the departure date on all MSC Caribbean and non-Caribbean sailings. Travel agents must register their bookings on the travel agent website. For more information, visit msccruisesagent.com, msccruisesusa.com, or call (877) 665-4655.
Carnival Cruise Lines doubled the amount of reward points travel agents may earn while playing Carnival Adventures, the line’s social learning game.
The game allows agents to earn Fun Points, which are converted to reward points redeemable within the Travel Agent Rewards Program. Now agents may redeem 50,000 Fun Points for 100 Reward points, doubling their earning opportunity. Fun Points are only redeemable in 50,000 increments. Agents can access the interactive social learning game through Carnival Passport on the line’s travel agent Internet Portal, goccl.com.
