And the Number Is...
Well, the one day sale is over, and while I have a number in my head, your going to have to wait until Tuesday for the official announcement from both YTB and Carnival to find out just how well we did.
Sorry.
I will tell you that it was a fun week and very exciting talking with team members and other RTA's about how many cruises they booked. If you don't know, cruising is why I got into this business. I absolutely LOVE to talk about cruising. (Okay, I enjoy taking them too!) I was in my element all week long talking about a product I not only know extremely well but love. It's the best vacation money can buy.
Late last night while I was watching a live feed from the home office on the computer I saw how the numbers were growing with calls into the home office, however we still have no idea how many cruises were booked directly on line, or with RTA's who called into Carnival directly. These number are what we will add to our totals that came directly into our Home Office.
YTB and Carnival will be working together over the weekend to compile the numbers, make sure the are accurate, and it is my belief both Carnival and YTB will make a joint announcement. It is also my understanding that our 3rd Quarter earnings will be released at the same day.
While it looked like a quiet week here and all my focus was on the November 8th Sale, our Travel Professionals were in full swing this week. I don't know exactly how you want to define all this, be it Rumor, Spin Machine, or just flat out Propaganda, but what ever it was, they certainly weren't busy servicing customers.
It's been a very long week. I need a little R & R and also need to get this nasty cold I have knocked out. I'll be putting some things together over the weekend and may post before Tuesday. Have a great weekend everyone!
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Doug & Ronda Bauknight
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Labels: Carnival, One Day Sale., Royal Caribbean, YTB
Do you know how you are counting these?
I know there was a push for certificate sales and that appears to be what HQ was selling. Are these counted as cruise sales? After all they are very restrictive.
It would be interesting to see the breakdown as follows:
--3/4 Day Cruise Sales
--5+ Day Cruise Sales
--3/4 Day Certificate Sales
--5+ Day Certificate Sales
And then broken down by the source--booked on a RTA site, booked with a RTA that called into CCL to book on the phone, or booked direct with HQ.
Posted by
John |
Saturday, November 10, 2007
While I am not certain John, it is my understanding that cruises will be counted as week (7 day) sailings. Therefore, two 3 or 4 day sailings will be counted as 1 full booking. I am also quite certain that the counts will only include cabins and not a sales volume total. I could be wrong about this, but that is my understanding at this point.
We may have better clarification on this for you Tuesday.
In regards to the restrictions you have mentioned concerning the Gift Certificates, I know you have been promoting that these Certificates were only valid from September 1st thru December 15th on forums and your blog.
The Gift Certificates offered can actually be redeemed for any cruise of your choice for up to 18 months from the date of purchase, and can also be upgraded to any cruise of your choice. Many clients were not able to decide on a specific cruise on November 8th, and therefore someone could purchase Carnivals entry level Certificate at $398 and take up to 18 months to decide where to go. If they choose to upgrade from a 3 or 4 day to a 5 or 7 day for example, the value of the $398 Certificate would be applied towards the cost of the sailing purchased.
While RTA’s will be paid for these Certificates, it is quite possible that when they are redeemed, additional commissions could be earned based on these upgrades.
In regards to other restrictions that apply, selected price points do not include Port Charges and Taxes, while others do. Gratuities are also not included in the price of these Certificates and it is my understanding that it is our clients choice to pre-pay these Gratuities at the time of booking.
Posted by
TravelPro |
Saturday, November 10, 2007
As a travel consultant that has dealt with the Carnival certificates. I wish you good luck ! The last one that someone brought to me was a nightmare to use. It was one of the low cost 398.00 ones and the client wanted to use it on a premium 7 days cruise. Long story short they ended up getting a 225.00 credit and paying the difference.
PS….One thing that no one has talked about is the fact that the certificate can be redeemed with any travel agent, not just the one that sold it, or CCL directly and if there is additional commission due the new agent will earn it.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Saturday, November 10, 2007
I was not aware of, nor I have I ever experienced any such issues with Carnival Gift certificates either as an Agent or as a customer.
Thank you for you comments.
Posted by
TravelPro |
Sunday, November 11, 2007