“Beverage packages” are not new, of course. Many cruise lines sell wine packages that allow a passen

Two recent additions to Carnival's marketing arsenal, "My Awesome Bar Program" and "Faster To The Fun," have some industry observers wondering if the cruise lines are learning luxury hotel and bahamas all the wrong lessons from the airline industry. The former, now being tested, charges passengers $49 a day (with tip) to drink themselves silly on anything (soft or hard) that costs less than $10; the latter, also in beta, offers passengers perks such as priority boarding, faster luggage delivery, priority dining luxury hotel and bahamas seating, and a choice of debarkation time for $49 per cabin.
I couldn't help thinking of Meshulam Zonis, one of the more colorful figures from Carnival's early days, who was quoted by Kristoffer Garin in his vastly entertaining book Devils on the Deep Blue Sea . "A cruise luxury hotel and bahamas passenger is like a wet towel," he'd say with a smile, making a back-and-forth wringing motion with his hands. "First you squeeze luxury hotel and bahamas him this way, and then you squeeze him this way."
Travel agents have a few reasons to gripe (not that they've ever needed an excuse): These add-ons luxury hotel and bahamas are not commissionable and they add to the ever-lengthening list of things we need to know to better luxury hotel and bahamas advise our clients. luxury hotel and bahamas And there is a faint whiff of "nickel and diming" about them. But are they really "ancillary fees" in the same sense the term is used in the airline industry? I'm not sure that claim survives scrutiny.
"Beverage packages" are not new, of course. Many cruise lines sell wine packages that allow a passenger to purchase all the wine they plan to drink on a cruise in one fell swoop. And Oceania beat Carnival to the "all-you-can-drink" punch (no pun intended) with its $50 a day Prestige Select program. Still, given Carnival's size and the potential for rollout across brands, the Awesome Bar Program luxury hotel and bahamas could have an effect on the industry that would be, well, awesome.
Putting aside the question of whether luxury hotel and bahamas it is a good idea to encourage people to over-indulge in booze ("Gotta get my money's worth, honey"), is Carnival doing anything it hasn't been doing all along with it's silken voiced poolside waiters offering what many first timers luxury hotel and bahamas think are complimentary luxury hotel and bahamas "welcome aboard" Mai Tais? They may even wind up losing money on some passengers think of your brother-in-law. But are they mimicking the airlines?
The airlines have always charged for booze except, of course, in first class and if they tried doing it there, the term "air rage" would take on whole new depths of meaning. luxury hotel and bahamas What has earned the airlines the undying enmity of many people is charging for formerly free services and that just doesn't apply here. What's being offered is a more convenient and, for some, a more economical way to pay for your beverage consumption while on board. It requires a cost-benefit analysis luxury hotel and bahamas and, for better or worse, travel agents should be prepared to provide counsel by having the numbers at their fingertips.
"Faster to the Fun" gets a little closer to the airline comparison and it will be interesting to see how frequent cruisers, who have earned some perks for their loyalty, will react to first timers buying their way to the front of the line, assuming they even realize that's what's happening.
For the most part, this new program doesn't offer much that cannot be obtained with some planning and artful schmoozing. For starters, boarding luxury hotel and bahamas hassles can be minimized by arriving at the dock in a timely fashion, something all travel agents should advise their cruising clients to do anyway. Nonetheless, Carnival will no doubt have some takers and, once again, agents will have to verse themselves on the pros and cons to provide good advice. What you or I may perceive as minor improvements could be a big deal to some clients luxury hotel and bahamas and it is the client's perception of his or her needs, luxury hotel and bahamas not ours, that wins the day.
So I for one am absolving Carnival of the "just like the airlines" charge. Cruising, like so many other businesses, has always been about deriving maximum value from every customer. The heirs to Meshulam Zonis have simply discovered a new way to squeeze the towel.
Kelly Monaghan, CTC, is a writer and publisher who has been covering the home-based travel agent scene since 1994. Prior to his entry into the travel industry he was a sales trainer for major companies such as AT T, Arrow Electronics, and Brinks and wrote widely on sales and marketing for a number of professional publications. His Home-Based Travel Agent Success Course  has been endorsed by OSSN and The Travel Institute. His publishing luxury hotel and bahamas company, The Intrepid Traveler  specializes in Orlando area attractions and offers discounts luxury hotel and bahamas to travel agents who wish to use its guides as gifts or premiums.
As a Travel Agent, I for one CAN NOTadvise my passengers that Carnival is a good cruise line. As an Agent I feel the Carnival has gone out of its way to shaft (I have other words) at EVERY opportunity. The most recent luxury hotel and bahamas being teh commission re-structuring, not to mention their calls and low balling luxury hotel and bahamas prices to customers that we have on courtesy hold. I can ONLY hope that it does not spred to the otehr lines owned by them, BUT I fear the fox is now in the henhouse!