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Since Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and others are moving towards more restrictive advertised pricing for travel agencies, many of the online agencies are now offering value added items like free insurance, luggage sets, free transfers, shore excursions, merchandise gifts, etc...

 

The key to this is that if we as an agency can't provide you with a discount, we can provide you with a valuable item in place of the discount. We can do this as long as we do not disclose the value of the item to the client. For example, I can't give away a $200 Gift Card because there is a dollar value associated with it.

 

My question is this:

In a situation where all agencies are selling the same cruise at the same price and equally providing good service, what kinds of "gifts" would really work in luring your business?

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Gift certificates for onboard items would really appeal to me. If you can't do a dollar amount, can you do two free facials at the onboard spa, dinner without extra charges at a specialty restaurant, bottles of great champagne, etc.?

 

India

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Pre- or post hotel stay at a 3 star or better place. Shore excursion for some would not be good for all example, I use canes and wheelchair so Shore ex for Dunn's River Falls is no good for me. Spa treatments or beach messauges. Free Specialty restaut certificates (I travel alone so certificate per meal so a couple would get one night while I would get two but same value). Free soda/pop stickers.

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Sandiegocruisedude, I'm reading into this question, "How can I offer a discount without the cruise line viewing it as a discount". I fully support this, as I'm not a fan of trying to control channel pricing, at least not when I'm the consumer.:)

 

There are some good suggestions already made, but your challenge is to equate cost to perceived value for the most people possible. As an example, a hotel stay would have value to me, but only if I planned to stay over a night. Otherwise, the value is 0. Now, I like wines and champaigns, but many people don't drink (or else bring their own), so that's unlikely to have universal value.

 

Just thinking out loud, offering the standard cruise tips would probably be a 1 for 1 correlation of (your) cost to (our)value, at least for 90% of the cruisers. Similarly, offering any prepaid service, that is cancellable without penalty, and provides shipboard credit might work. Maybe you offer tour X, but I want to take tour Y, so I can freely exchange for that, or even a spa treatment or shop purchase.

 

I guess I'm trying to say, make the bonus as fungible as possible, and something that has an unstated value that can be easily determined by the customer. OK, so this does require an ability for people to think a little, but it seems to be one of those nod-nod, wink-wink kind of transactions.

 

But, I have no idea whether the cruiselines would see through this.

 

Good luck.

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The issue is we can't just pre-purchase a spa treatment without everyone knowing it's value, we can't buy casino credits because they would have a value, same with onboard credits. The private dinner may be an option, though.

 

Currently we have been providing some of the following: 2-night hotel stay (not a pre/post it's a seperate item) & luggage sets.

 

I appreciate the feedback as we want to provide the best value, within reason. Keep the suggestions coming, just remember there cannot be a stated, or obvious, dollar value to the item(s).

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The issue is we can't just pre-purchase a spa treatment without everyone knowing it's value, we can't buy casino credits because they would have a value, same with onboard credits. The private dinner may be an option, though.

 

Currently we have been providing some of the following: 2-night hotel stay (not a pre/post it's a seperate item) & luggage sets.

 

I appreciate the feedback as we want to provide the best value, within reason. Keep the suggestions coming, just remember there cannot be a stated, or obvious, dollar value to the item(s).

 

The hotel would appeal to me (depending on the city, but in general...). The luggage would not appeal to me so much unless it happened to be a luggage set that I was planning on purchasing anyway.

 

If you are doing the hotel stay, how about gift certificates to a restaurant (or other attraction) in the pre/post stay city?

 

Also, this would probably only appeal to women, but how about some kind of travel gift set of high-end toiletries? (Not sure where you're located, but the better department stores, Bath and Body Works, and Sephora sell these in my area, and sephora.com and beauty.com online.) They can cost from like $35-$500 depending upon what you order, so it could be a high value item.

 

India

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Interesting! Let's see, what would I value? Airfare, for one would be cool. A private town car to/from the pier from the airport would be great too. Oh I forgot to add, a stay in a pet hotel for my dog would be great while I am cruising!

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Interesting! Let's see, what would I value? Airfare, for one would be cool. A private town car to/from the pier from the airport would be great too. Oh I forgot to add, a stay in a pet hotel for my dog would be great while I am cruising!

 

We have a nice Pet hotel here in San Diego that offers a WebCaM so that we can log on and check to see what those 2 beagles are up too:confused: LOL.. rates are very expensive thou for a 7 to 9 day stay.

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I like the idea of limo to/from airport, hotel and cruise ship (or if local taxi from house). Pre and post hotel with a dinner (I usually stay one night pre). Wine is not for me nor chocolates in the room (medical).

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The first thing I'd probably be interested in would be airfare. Unless you're driving to the pier, that's something we all have to deal with.

 

After that might come a pre or post cruise hotel stay, with ground transport.

 

Or maybe an excursion?

 

A bar setup waiting in the cabin? That would catch my eye.

 

Merchandise would be way down my list - we have too much junk already. biggrin.gif

 

It's kind of hard to give a recomendation as I don't know how much $ you have to play with.

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Here's my list, in not any particular order.:D

 

1. Airfare

2. Spa package

3. Hotel stay (pre/post/anytime)

4. Onboard credit

5. Excursions

6. Bottle of liquor in room

7. Travel insurance

8. Upgrade to a better cabin

9. Free dinner at specialty restaurant on board

10. Discount on my next booked cruise

11. Add miles to my frequent flier program

I agree also---no merchandise!!

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We are very easy to please.

 

Just give us very professional and knowledgeable service and keep us updated on price reductions and cruise/trip processing progress.

 

Since we do our home work prior to going to TA we already know web pricing, cruise line pricing, cabin availability, cabin pricing, itineraries, excursions and etc. So we just need an outstanding TA to finalize and follow up on the million of details associated with a successful and enjoyable cruise/trip.

 

A bottle of booze in cabin from TA is the most that we expect.

 

Also certainly appreciate and utilize the $25 deposit per person on cruises that her agency allows with the balance of cruise cost due in full on cruise company's final payment date is a very nice incentive that we always utilize. That way we keep the normally required deposit money in our pocket until final payment date.

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Since Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and others are moving towards more restrictive advertised pricing for travel agencies, many of the online agencies are now offering value added items like free insurance, luggage sets, free transfers, shore excursions, merchandise gifts, etc...

 

The key to this is that if we as an agency can't provide you with a discount, we can provide you with a valuable item in place of the discount. We can do this as long as we do not disclose the value of the item to the client. For example, I can't give away a $200 Gift Card because there is a dollar value associated with it.

 

My question is this:

In a situation where all agencies are selling the same cruise at the same price and equally providing good service, what kinds of "gifts" would really work in luring your business?

Service goes a long way! You can give away all the items that have been mentioned but id rather be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone who will be able to answer my questions or have someone get back to me within a reasonable amont of time..:)
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I agree with many of the suggestions on this thread - spa gift baskets would be good because there isn't really a known monetary value attached. Another idea might be category upgrades or those foofy bathrobes. For the gentlemen--maybe a certificate for a professional shave at the spa? (Do they even do that anymore?)

 

Also -- can you mail me with info on your agency? I'm trying to find a TA for an Oct 06 cruise, and this "value added" thing is intriguing to me. My mail is barefootscribe@hotmail.com.

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I would love to provide an air credit, or dining experience, or spa treatment. But I would have to provide a dollar amount which I can't. The airport parking is interesting. We are currently offering free transfers & insurance on select Royal Caribbean & Celebrity sailings. For example, the Voyager this summer.

 

This is great input though.

 

I suppose I could word an ad that states:

"Voyager of the Seas 7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise from $1049 with Choice of Air Credit, Transfers or Insurance July/August"

 

Does that sound appealing enough to draw an inquiry from most of you?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Appreciate your asking for input. So far, we've sailed HAL 6X and have been very pleased, but have been thinking about trying Celebrity. However, their new restrictive policy has been a major turnoff. We'd certainly be more amenable in our decision with the following (short list):

 

Pier parking charges (we always drive)

Travel insurance

Pre-cruise hotel stay w/dinner at a local rest.

We're in the process of downsizing, so we wouldn't be interested in receiving merchandise.

Would like your website -- southbound39 at aol dot com

Thanx.

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We are very easy to please.

 

Just give us very professional and knowledgeable service and keep us updated on price reductions and cruise/trip processing progress.

 

Since we do our home work prior to going to TA we already know web pricing, cruise line pricing, cabin availability, cabin pricing, itineraries, excursions and etc. So we just need an outstanding TA to finalize and follow up on the million of details associated with a successful and enjoyable cruise/trip.

 

A bottle of booze in cabin from TA is the most that we expect.

 

Also certainly appreciate and utilize the $25 deposit per person on cruises that her agency allows with the balance of cruise cost due in full on cruise company's final payment date is a very nice incentive that we always utilize. That way we keep the normally required deposit money in our pocket until final payment date.

 

Hi Comeaux,

Could you please email me at kt6168 at aol dot com? I delete junk mail, so if you get a chance to email me, please include a title that references this site. Thanks, Tammy

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