Carnival's Justin French, Joni Rein & Marilisa De Simone
Carnival's Vicky Rey & Arlene Marichal
Rasia Khan, TravelOnly; Cyndi Stone, Cruise Holidays; Chie Benitez, 411travelbuys.ca; and Yvonne Campbell, Pro Travel Network
Expedia Cruiseshipcenters' Staci Stoyke & Marilyn Tavener, with Lisa Silver, redtag.ca
The Q&A session begins
Since Carnival refocused their attention to the travel trade last year, rebuilding relationships and promoting partnerships, the “facilitators of fun” are at it again with another edition of Carnival Conversations.
130 agents gathered at the Hilton Markham Suites last week to take part in the event which has proven to be a successful initiative for the cruise line. “We’ve really benefited from our Carnival Conversations,” said Joni Rein, V.P. Worldwide Sales. “Agents shared experiences about policies that didn’t work for them. And we learned and corrected these almost immediately. Some policy changes were implemented right away.”
Ask and you shall receive! Last year’s Carnival Conversations resulted in many improvements for their travel partners. Agents requested a brochure and the company came out with the Cruise Vacation Guide. Training was re-established for Carnival res agents after complaints about customer service were received. And their pricing programs were simplified after travel agents expressed confusion over them.
“It’s an opportunity for us to have an open and honest dialogue with agents,” said Justin French, Carnival’s Managing Director of International Sales. “And agents also have the chance to meet some of our head executives who will bring some extra knowledge to the table.”
Joining Rein on the Carnival Conversations panel was Vicki Rey, V.P. Guest Services; Arlene Marichal, Senior Director Solutions & Group Service and Marilisa De Simone, Business Development Manager. They each made a quick presentation, sharing tips and tricks on how agents can develop cruise clients and build their cruise business.
"This was my 1st Carnival Conversations event and it was one of the best presentations I've been to in a long time," said Sandy Burns of Uniglobe Plus. "The panel was exceptional. They were very knowledgeable about the product and it came through to the audience during the question and answer period."
The Q&A was a segment of Carnival Conversations that apparently got rather heated during the U.S. events. But according to French, Canadians had a much more polite way of expressing their concerns and frustrations.
It was more than civil. In fact, the panel had guests cheering and clapping. It would’ve been difficult to leave the event disappointed, especially since the message that everybody was left with was that Carnival is absolutely committed to their travel agent partners. And according to Rein, they will keep listening because Carnival Conversations will continue.
The Carnival Conversations panel: Joni Rein; Vicky Rey; Arlene Marichal; Marilisa De Simone; and Justin French
