Norwegian Cruise Line Supporting Agents Financially and Emotionally

Norwegian Cruise Line is going out of their way to help agents and advisors, both financially and spiritually.

NCL officials on Wednesday unveiled details of their "Week of You" programming, which runs December 7 to 11.

They also announced their "Cruise First" program, which will provide consumers with a $300 certificate for a future reservation at a cost of $150. The certificates can be used on new bookings within three years, so would-be travellers can wait quite a while.

Rather than getting a commission, agents who sell the certificates will be given a $50 gift card, which is one-third of the certificate's actual cost, said Katina Athanasiou, NCL's Chief Sales Officer.

There will be a limit of 10 certificates per guest, which means a $3,000 reservation could be had for $1,500.

Athanasiou said she's not aware of any other cruise lines offering a certificate program of this kind.

The Week of You programming will feature "a series of thoughtfully curated complimentary virtual events designed to provide comprehensive professional and personal support to travel advisors during this unprecedented time."

All programming is free, and can be accessed at a later date through NCL channels.

"Understanding 2020 has been a tough year for travel advisors, NCL aims to take a holistic approach at not only supporting the business of travel partners but also supporting their mental health and physical well-being. "Week of You" will connect travel advisors with NCL executives to help them market and sell NCL's product offerings to grow their business as well as provide access to A-list lifestyle experts and business leaders, including The New York Times Bestselling Author and purpose coach Jay Shetty, "Queer Eye's" design guru Bobby Berk, and Facebook's Head of Travel Colleen Coulter, among others."

Athanasiou said there will be engaging activities, business educational sessions and, of course, plenty of fun along the way.

There also will be tons of prizes, including 20 seven-day cruises.

"It's one of the most meaningful initiatives we've ever undertaken at NCL."

NCL traditionally does their "Metro meetings" in person to say thanks to their travel partners but that, of course, is not possible this year.

"We're really designing it around helping our travel partners kind of reset, re-focus and succeed moving into WAVE season."

Athanasiou said it's a chance to create some optimism and anticipation in the industry, and to help agents and advisors cope with a tremendously difficult period in the travel industry.

"Our partners honestly are everything to us," she said.

Asked if she's encouraged by news of vaccines rolling out, Athanasiou said that any announcement that talks about vaccines or new therapeutics is good for the travel and cruise industries.

I think all it does is continue to be a positive for all of us in the entire hospitality space, because it means with every new announcement and every new step that … there's more consumer confidence to go along with it."

"So, I think it's definitely a positive step in the right direction. We've made many positive steps in the right direction over the last couple of months. It felt like a really long time, but I do think it's about getting consumer confidence back. This doesn't mean you have to step on a flight tomorrow or do something immediate if people aren't ready, but it gets people emotionally back to that comfort and confidence."

Topics From This Article to Explore