Royal Caribbean Working on New Fare Policy

Royal Caribbean Cruises Line (RCCL) is working to come up with a fare program that will definitely recognize key account status and address components that includes marketing, Lisa Bauer, the company´s vice president for North America sales, said.

The cruise line is discontinuing its key account fares, a controversial policy that gives top accounts access to group rates for individual bookings. It is also working on a revised group policy to discourage agencies from blocking so-called "speculative" group space and filling it with individual travelers.

The idea is to attract true affinity and promotional groups, Ms Bauer said.

RCCL, that includes the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity brands, is also studying what types of marketing programs might replace key accounts. It has not yet said when the new policy will go into effect.