Aaron Langford, the line’s UK and Ireland senior sales director, made the pledge during an interview with TTG, the day after Royal launched its new trade loyalty programme, Upper Deck. 

Speaking 90 days into his new role, Langford said: “I’m keen to get more agents on our ships. I would like to start thinking about fam trips for next year. 

“There are a lot of agents who have not sold cruise or a Royal Caribbean sailing before, or even experienced one before. It’s about creating that memory for agents – can we give them the experience that will enable to sell the product in a better way?”

Langford said Independence of the Seas’ return to the UK in 2025 would be one opportunity to get agents onboard, adding there would also be chances to experience Royal’s new ships Utopia of the Seas and Icon of the Seas, both of which will be based in Florida next year. 

’I could jump on any ship’ 

This year, Royal welcomed around 1,000 agents onto its ships, but Langford hopes to double that figure. "In 2025, we’ve got more opportunities to get agents onboard so we could double the number,” he said.

Langford said his understanding of how important educationals were came from his four-and-a-half years in Miami where he was Royal’s commercial strategy director. 

“In Miami, I was blessed because I could jump onto a ship whenever I wanted. I was quite privileged,” he continued. “I now want to supplement our [e-learning] Learn programme with real-life experiences.”

’We want to pay agents handsomely’

Royal launched Upper Deck on Tuesday following a series of agent roadshow events to promote the platform to select groups of agents.

When asked how the trade had reacted to the programme, with which agents can earn up to £500 per booking plus their usual commission, Langford said: “The feedback has been really impressive. 

“The social media engagement has been off the charts. It is two or three times more than that what we would normally get. Everyone is happy to have this opportunity to make more money. We’re super excited about it."

Langford continued:  “People understand the value of what we’re trying to do with Upper Deck. Previously, if you were to book a five or six-night cruise with Independence, we would pay you £5.

“Something did not feel right about that, particularly when we’re on that journey [to] tapping into the mainstream holiday market.” 

Langford believes Upper Deck shows how Royal is “one of the most rewarding cruise lines”. “We want to put our money where our mouth is,” he explained. “We want to pay agents handsomely.

"I’ve been in this role for 90 days – I can already see there is a lot of love out there for us. The relationships that we have built out there for all to see.

"There are a few B2B agencies out there that offer very handsome rewards. Hopefully we will be more attractive to these agencies that may not have booked cruise before.”

’We always get a buzz’

Upper Deck, Langford said, is one of several programmes that Royal will launch in the coming weeks, many of which are part of the usual yearly cycle. “Like anything with Royal Caribbean, we need to make sure that we’re constantly innovating,” he added. 

“We’re probably going to be announcing the 2026 programme in November. We always get a buzz around those launches. Then we have Cyber Monday and Black Friday and then its wave season.”

Next week, Langford and his team will visit agency branches and HQs in Ireland to share Royal’s latest updates including Upper Deck. It comes soon after Royal welcomed 500 agents to its “Summer in Scotland” event in August.  

“Summer in Scotland was important because I’m not sure that we do enough of that,” he said. “We got to see 500 agents there. We could have got nearly 800.”