Vicki Freed "The Magnificent"
I’ve been contemplating and also doing some reading over the weekend concerning Vicki Freed’s stunning move from Carnival over to Royal Caribbean. There really hasn’t been all that much that I can find concerning the subject at this time, which isn’t surprising since this news came late Friday afternoon and most of the world is spending time doing something else on the weekend. I’ve always noticed a big drop in readership during the weekend, Saturday’s more so than Sunday, so it’s not surprising that there isn’t much out there right now. Besides, it’s Championship Sunday!
Dahhh!
To say that this move from #1 Carnival to #2 Royal Caribbean by Vicki isn’t news however couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a real shocker to most, (including me) and the few comments and posts I’ve seen have people stunned. Everyone who’s been in this industry for some time, or is passionate about the cruising industry certainly knew that Royal Caribbean was looking for a new Sr. VP of Sales after moving Lisa Bauer over to Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations. Vicki Freed however, a fixture with Carnival for 29 years, was probably the LAST person anyone would have predicted to fill this void. It came as a big surprise to just about everyone, most of all Carnival.
I saw one quote that expressed very well what Carnival has done in the cruise industry. “Carnival basically took the formality out of cruising, and made it available to the masses. They revolutionized an industry, all from very humble beginnings as the underdog. It was history in the making and Freed was a part of it.” and someone else continued with “She is as much a part of Carnival as Ted Arison, Bob Dickinson, Micky Arison, Maurice Zarmati, Roger Blum, Roberta Jacoby, Cherie Weinstein, and Meshulam Zonis. These individuals were truly the "rat pack" of Carnival Cruise Lines.”
This is BIG – BIG news in the industry.
Some Industry Insiders have already posted predictions, speculating, or forecasting what all this could mean for the Cruise Industry as a whole. I’ve posted about my belief in “predictions” or speculation recently and based on this move of Vicki’s being such a stunning move only adds validity to my belief that no one can accurately predict the future. Especially in this industry! What you need to understand about people who make predictions like this is that this speculation is based on what they “want” to happen, not necessarily “believe” will happen. It’s anyone’s guess, both positive or negative at this stage of the game, (Vicki doesn’t move into her new digs officially until Tuesday) and to make any assumption about what Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean will do without being Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean is foolish.
With the changing of the guard at Carnival with CEO Bob Dickinson now retired after 35 years, and new CEO, Gerry Cahill now “in” the time was right for Vicki to make this move. It’s no secret that Vicki is both widely admired and loved by just about everyone in the industry. Like Lisa Bauer being “The Face” of Royal Caribbean back in October, Vicki Freed was “The Face” of Carnival for 29 years. While researching for this post, I found that many thought Vicki was upset about NOT being named CEO and President. After all she’s the one who’s been driving sales with Carnival for years. Some “speculated” that she would be the next obvious choice to move into Dickinson’s position once he retired. But instead, Vicki was overlooked and the responsibility fell to CFO, Gerry Cahill.
I laughed at this comment: “Hell hath no furry, like a woman scorned. Can't necessarily say I blame her after putting in 29 years. I'll bet some of the higher ups at Carnival are kicking their collective butts right now.”
Cahill being a finance guy, (bean counter?) admitted to knowing very little about the Travel MLM and “card mill” issues that have been debated so heavily in the industry in recent months. When I was first introduced to Cahill as CEO and President back in November he was asked point blank about his understanding of “card mills” and if he would follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Carnivals relationship with, and I quote “questionable travel selling organizations”. Cahill answered "I have no understanding of what the distinction Royal Caribbean is making." and he did emphasize he wanted to “learn more about it”.
Cahill DID learn more; and Carnival is NOT following Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Travel MLM’s. Cahill may have looked with Vicki concerning “the numbers” when the question came up at Carnival Corporate. Remember Vicki is quoted in Modern Agent “Your statement of YTB not being in the business of selling travel is interesting because our revenue production suggests differently. It has been published that they sold over $13 million of business with another cruise line and I can assure you that we also have millions of dollars in cruise revenue generated as well." After Cahill was also assured just how much business a company like YTB produces for their brand a CFO mind concluded that terminating a relationship like YTB, financially did not make sense. However to keep everyone happy a mandate of new minimum booking requirements were handed out two months later on January 9th.
Problem solved.
So with Royal Caribbean out at sea all by itself after 3 months, and the #1 Cruise Line, The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World, telling Royal Caribbean in so many words that they may not like the model, but they certainly like the money it generates, what can you do?
I could make a case that Royal Caribbean fell flat on its face by terminating its relationship with YTB and Joystar. Sure they expected the industry to follow, but very few if any of the big names actually did. Now with Carnival upstaging Royal Caribbean with a way to curb the FAM’s AND keep the sales, Royal Caribbean not only needs to back peddle, but is in desperate need of smoothing things over with the largest Travel MLM in the industry. Who better to bring on board someone who not only knows how much YTB actually does in sales, but has publicly expressed support for the YTB business model as the perfect fit to fix their Royal Blunder.
Oh I could certainly make a case that Royal Caribbean is in desperate need of a "Royal Makeover".
But I won’t. (;wink ;wink)
Besides, I have more important things to do at the moment…
Like Championship Football!
Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
Dahhh!
To say that this move from #1 Carnival to #2 Royal Caribbean by Vicki isn’t news however couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a real shocker to most, (including me) and the few comments and posts I’ve seen have people stunned. Everyone who’s been in this industry for some time, or is passionate about the cruising industry certainly knew that Royal Caribbean was looking for a new Sr. VP of Sales after moving Lisa Bauer over to Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations. Vicki Freed however, a fixture with Carnival for 29 years, was probably the LAST person anyone would have predicted to fill this void. It came as a big surprise to just about everyone, most of all Carnival.
I saw one quote that expressed very well what Carnival has done in the cruise industry. “Carnival basically took the formality out of cruising, and made it available to the masses. They revolutionized an industry, all from very humble beginnings as the underdog. It was history in the making and Freed was a part of it.” and someone else continued with “She is as much a part of Carnival as Ted Arison, Bob Dickinson, Micky Arison, Maurice Zarmati, Roger Blum, Roberta Jacoby, Cherie Weinstein, and Meshulam Zonis. These individuals were truly the "rat pack" of Carnival Cruise Lines.”
This is BIG – BIG news in the industry.Some Industry Insiders have already posted predictions, speculating, or forecasting what all this could mean for the Cruise Industry as a whole. I’ve posted about my belief in “predictions” or speculation recently and based on this move of Vicki’s being such a stunning move only adds validity to my belief that no one can accurately predict the future. Especially in this industry! What you need to understand about people who make predictions like this is that this speculation is based on what they “want” to happen, not necessarily “believe” will happen. It’s anyone’s guess, both positive or negative at this stage of the game, (Vicki doesn’t move into her new digs officially until Tuesday) and to make any assumption about what Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean will do without being Vicki, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean is foolish.
With the changing of the guard at Carnival with CEO Bob Dickinson now retired after 35 years, and new CEO, Gerry Cahill now “in” the time was right for Vicki to make this move. It’s no secret that Vicki is both widely admired and loved by just about everyone in the industry. Like Lisa Bauer being “The Face” of Royal Caribbean back in October, Vicki Freed was “The Face” of Carnival for 29 years. While researching for this post, I found that many thought Vicki was upset about NOT being named CEO and President. After all she’s the one who’s been driving sales with Carnival for years. Some “speculated” that she would be the next obvious choice to move into Dickinson’s position once he retired. But instead, Vicki was overlooked and the responsibility fell to CFO, Gerry Cahill.
I laughed at this comment: “Hell hath no furry, like a woman scorned. Can't necessarily say I blame her after putting in 29 years. I'll bet some of the higher ups at Carnival are kicking their collective butts right now.”
Cahill being a finance guy, (bean counter?) admitted to knowing very little about the Travel MLM and “card mill” issues that have been debated so heavily in the industry in recent months. When I was first introduced to Cahill as CEO and President back in November he was asked point blank about his understanding of “card mills” and if he would follow Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Carnivals relationship with, and I quote “questionable travel selling organizations”. Cahill answered "I have no understanding of what the distinction Royal Caribbean is making." and he did emphasize he wanted to “learn more about it”.
Cahill DID learn more; and Carnival is NOT following Royal Caribbean’s lead in terminating Travel MLM’s. Cahill may have looked with Vicki concerning “the numbers” when the question came up at Carnival Corporate. Remember Vicki is quoted in Modern Agent “Your statement of YTB not being in the business of selling travel is interesting because our revenue production suggests differently. It has been published that they sold over $13 million of business with another cruise line and I can assure you that we also have millions of dollars in cruise revenue generated as well." After Cahill was also assured just how much business a company like YTB produces for their brand a CFO mind concluded that terminating a relationship like YTB, financially did not make sense. However to keep everyone happy a mandate of new minimum booking requirements were handed out two months later on January 9th.
Problem solved.
So with Royal Caribbean out at sea all by itself after 3 months, and the #1 Cruise Line, The Most Popular Cruise Line in the World, telling Royal Caribbean in so many words that they may not like the model, but they certainly like the money it generates, what can you do?
I could make a case that Royal Caribbean fell flat on its face by terminating its relationship with YTB and Joystar. Sure they expected the industry to follow, but very few if any of the big names actually did. Now with Carnival upstaging Royal Caribbean with a way to curb the FAM’s AND keep the sales, Royal Caribbean not only needs to back peddle, but is in desperate need of smoothing things over with the largest Travel MLM in the industry. Who better to bring on board someone who not only knows how much YTB actually does in sales, but has publicly expressed support for the YTB business model as the perfect fit to fix their Royal Blunder.
Oh I could certainly make a case that Royal Caribbean is in desperate need of a "Royal Makeover".
But I won’t. (;wink ;wink)
Besides, I have more important things to do at the moment…
Like Championship Football!
Subscribe to Just Picture It Now for additional announcements and details!
Doug & Ronda Bauknight
AKA: TravelPro
Travel Agent / Networker
Phone: 678.458.5812
Learn How To Become A Travel Agent
Book Your Travel & Vacations With
Travel Reservations: 1.800.243.4450
RTA #24635
Labels: Carnival, FAM's, Royal Caribbean, Travel MLM, Vicki Freed
Hello Doug & Ronda,
I'm brand new to YTB and your blog. First thanks for doing an excellent job of bringing a balanced, professional voice to issues of YTB/MLM and travel.
I love travel and some thirty years ago thought of becoming a travel agent. Even then I didn't see the return I'd get for the work I'd put in or the stress I'd have as worth it. Things like people blaming agents for a problem at a hotel that was thousands of miles away and that they had nothing to do with! It happens. Plus it was strictly linear income for generally low pay, not residual or leveraged income.
Before the airlines cut commissions and most travel bookings moved online, combining travel and MLM may not have worked as well. Now, however I feel that it is a wonderful combination. Certainly there are challenges when an industry is undergoing such dramatic changes, but the travel industry is going through those changes with or without MLM.
Travel is truly/naturally promoted by enthusiastic word of mouth marketing (unlike most vitamins, shampoos, cleaners, etc.) so referral marketing really is a natural fit, and why shouldn't those sharing their vacation with family and friends be able to benefit from telling them about it? They should!!!
I was cautious about YTB being a card mill, and I know a lot of reps have done unethical things (happens in all of life) but from what I see YTB is doing a great job of meeting these challenges.
I think the move by YTB and Carnival to require a certain amount of bookings/training to get travel agent perks is an excellent move. One I hope that YTB and the travel industry makes even stronger.
To be blunt thanks to YTB and MLM I get to benefit from travel with both Leveraged and residual income rather than being stuck with just linear income with a relatively low return for my work as traditional travel agents are. To me Travel agent perks are frosting on the cake, and if I need to get additional training and book a certain amount of travel to qualify for those, I am fine with that. In fact I think it's reasonable and good move for both YTB and the travel industry.
Explorer Dave
Posted by
David Mitchell |
Monday, January 21, 2008
Couldn't have said it better myself!
Thank you David, and keep coming back!
Warm Regards,
Doug & Ronda
Posted by
TravelPro |
Monday, January 21, 2008