RCL Cruises Ltd ? Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises ? are on the final countdown to switching over to a new more intuitive reservations system.
ESPRESSO, a bespoke reservation tool, will replace the former CruiseMatch booking system completely from June 1 and, in addition to training by the on-the-road sales teams of the three cruise lines, almost 600 agents have attended 50 virtual classes on how to use the tool to its full potential.
ESPRESSO provides side-by-side comparisons of itineraries, highlights the best possible promotional offers and can display a customer?s history ? such as recent promotions sent to them, destination and accommodation preferences ? which can then be automatically populated into any new booking. Plus, the new reservations tool is tablet optimised and also features interactive deck plans that highlight the best available staterooms, including those that might be interconnecting or closest-to a specific location.
Kerry Nicholson, the cruise lines' training specialist, said: "The powerful new ESPRESSO tool has been developed in response to the needs and feedback of our agent partners. We have listened throughout the process and reduced the time and clicks it takes to make a booking. Almost all our UK and Ireland agent partners are using ESPRESSO already, and we have carried out extensive training to ensure that everyone is ready for the final switch over. It?s so exciting to be working with our agent partners to deliver a simpler and more dynamic booking process.?
The tool is also being rolled out globally by the cruise lines, and has been developed to aid agents in selling more cruises, earning more and growing their business. Agents already using the new reservations platform have highlighted that the booking time, easier to read deck plans, simple search, and confirming bookings processes have all been greatly enhanced.
For more information and agent training visit cruisingpower.co.uk
Image Source: mariakraynova via Shutterstock
