Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Launches New Multi-Brand Reservation System

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has introduced a preview of its new Espresso global reservation system, designed for travel agents selling Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Club Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France. The system will officially launch in March 2015.

The company touts Espresso as a faster, powerful and intuitive reservation system that will assist travel agent partners in selling more cruises, earning more commission and growing their businesses.

While Espresso will go live for agent bookings in March, the existing CruiseMatch reservation system will also continue to operate concurrently for some time -- likely three to four months -- to allow travel partners to take the training and feel comfortable with the new system.

Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales, Celebrity Cruises, said the goal is to reach and train more than 20,000 travel agents; she described the system as easy to learn and highly intuitive in how it assists agents.

Starting in February, the three major U.S. brands will hit the road and provide training seminars to travel agent partners across the U.S. and Canada. To prepare for the transition from CruiseMatch to the Espresso reservation system, travel agents are being encouraged by the cruise company to register online at www.bookespresso.com for one of the training seminars.

A new three-minute video at that site will also assist agents in seeing what Espresso is all about.

Two four-hour, in-person training sessions will be held in six major cities now through March including the South Florida metropolitan area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, New York City and Toronto. There is zero financial cost to agents.

There also will be 90-minute webinars, which agents can take live, or watch later in a recorded mode. BDMs and DSMs will also be doing in-office training for agents.

The line has a new computer-based training tool that simulates Espresso for agents at www.espressocbt.com. That site also has a .pdf manual for Espresso. Espresso will ultimately replace Cruise Match as the reservations system for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s multiple brands.

“Royal Caribbean’s relationship with travel agents has always been a top priority and this is another demonstration of our commitment to making our brands the easiest in the industry to do business with,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service for Royal Caribbean International.

“These new tools deliver an easier and more intuitive booking experience for our valued travel partners," Freed said, noting that the brands were eager to see how a smarter, more dynamic platform will enhance the agencies' business results.

Freed described the new system as "strong, powerful and filled with energy."

Ritzenthaler stressed: “The new Espresso will harness the latest technology to deliver the industry’s most advanced booking system....It will help our travel agents focus more on their customers than looking at the computer screen."

A new simplified, intuitive, and modern user interface dramatically reduces the number of clicks to make a reservation – from seven to five. Ritzenthaler also said that Espresso assembles the most important and frequently used functions up front: "All inventory is centralized and travel agents can select up to four stateroom categories at once for quick and easy comparison."

Source: Travel Agent Central