Celebrity Cruises has introduced a number of new initiatives to help agents “stay connected and feel supported” during the coronavirus crisis, including a new live chat function.
The live chat feature has been introduced to the Celebrity Central platform, alongside the usual trade support; call centre; and sales support channels.
Elsewhere, the Celebrity Central platform continues to feature all the latest updates, including regular news articles on Celebrity Cruises’ latest policies.
Celebrity is encouraging agents to inspire their customers to look further ahead by using Celebrity Central to access ready-to-share offers and social media content.
Agents can also find downloadable resources including Cruise with Confidence policy summary grids and FAQs.
Meanwhile, the Celebrity sales team is helping agents navigate the current landscape by holding live webinars to keep them up to speed on the news, advise what’s selling well and share sales tips.
Luxury-themed training sessions are being held monthly by Jonny Peat, business development manager, and Emma Rigby, luxury business development executive, each delving into a particular topic such as the Edge Series and the Galapagos.
Next up is April’s masterclass on The Retreat, being held on Tuesday 28 April. Details on how to join these sessions will be shared via the Celebrity agent Facebook pages.
The wider team are also holding impromptu coffee mornings and regularly posting on social media to keep everyone’s spirits high, the line said.
Celebrity Cruises, along with the rest of the Royal Caribbean group, have extended the “Cruise with Confidence” cancellation policy to allow the flexibility to decide to cancel up to 48-hours prior to departure for any sailing departing on-or-before 1 September, 2020.
It allows guests to cancel up to 48-hours prior to their sail date in exchange for a 100% Future Cruise Credit, valid for redemption on sailings departing on-or-before 31 December, 2021. Agent commission is protected on both ends – the cancelled booking and the future booking where the FCC is redeemed.