Cruises International responds to TNW report
I WOULD like to respond to
the article titled ‘Storm At
Sea’, which appeared in the
July 11 issue of TNW.
The article is the result
of an email that I sent to
decision makers in the
industry, bringing to their
attention the risks involved
when placing reservations
for Royal Caribbean,
Celebrity and Azamara
(RCL) and other brands,
through operators who are
not authorised, either by
Cruises International and/
or RCL to do so. If anything
goes wrong with any of
these reservations or if,
for any reason, the client
has any pre or post or
during sailing complaints
or disputes we, Cruises
International, will not be
able to step in and assist
in resolving these issues.
We urged our partners
to act responsibly and to
channel their business
with Royal Caribbean
International and its affiliate
brands through Cruises
International, RCL’s only
official local representative,
and our appointed re-sellers.
Whether they book directly
with us, or they use any of
our appointed distributors,
such as wholesalers or
the online tools we offer.
Furthermore, we have
access to the reservations
placed through the
appointed channels and
we have direct access
to the highest levels of
management in order to
resolve any issue or dispute
effectively and to the
client’s satisfaction. Using
unauthorised channels
places both the agent and
their client at risk, which
will result in financial and
reputational damage. In
order to protect the trade
and the consumers, RCL is
taking all necessary steps
to put an end to this
practice.
Our trade partners are
exactly that. Our partners.
We are here to support them
at all times, assist them
to grow their cruise sales
and stand by them and
their clients when there is a
service failure or a dispute
of any kind. We welcome any
feedback that will assist us
to continually improve. After
all, Cruises International can
only be as successful as our
trade partners are.
We reassure our partners
that there is no ‘storm’
whatsoever.
George Argyropoulos,
ceo Cruises Internationa.
