BWIVince

The challenge with commissions is that someone has to do the work and get paid for it. At least in the US travel industry, it’s never been a choice of commission-funded travel agents or book direct and save the commission. No matter what anyone claims, in direct booking scenarios, the supplier just takes on the labor of managing the booking, and funds that in lieu of paying an agent for that support…. And for the most part, what the customer gets in lieu of a professional agent when they book direct, is a minimum wage, high turnover (or worse, outsourced) call center that gives them a lower level of (often incorrect or frustrating) care for pretty much the same price. Suppliers may advertise direct booking savings or price match guarantees, but their contracts with their preferred partners guarantee price parity, so most booking channels end up with the same prices anyway (and better service). I can’t comment on Explora’s commission rates because I don’t know how that’s constructed, but I will say that a 20% base commission would be problematic at best because of how commissions are tiered. Normally, commissions come in two flavors — base commissions and overrides. Base commissions are the same for every agency everywhere, and is customarily around 10% for most suppliers (though some companies have chipped away at that, with varying results). Overrides are paid on top of commissions and vary by agency — these are considerations for things like sales volume, or membership in a buying consortium. So if I was an agency that was a member of XYZ Consortium, I might get a commission of 10% on a booking, plus an override of 4%. In rare cases, a supplier may also offer a promotion, which would be a third type of compensation — sometimes non-cash — on top of both the override and commission, to really help sell. So if 20% is the total amount after overrides and promotions, that would be generous but not unheard of…. But if the 20% is just the commission, that’s a different story. I’ll add one more comment, because things are slightly different for new cruise lines starting out. Most overrides and preferred supplier agreements are based on 2-5 year sales data. New travel suppliers don’t have that with anyone, so overrides become more of a sore point than a go-to, causing new companies to temporarily turn more to slightly bigger base commissions or bigger promotions until they can get long-term consortium or preferred supplier agreements in place, which takes a few years. That may also explain part of the 20% amount, but still sort of leaves open how it’s arrived at. Vince

This is just an example, but travel agents would be that type of external stakeholder. Not saying this is the case, but here's a type of scenario that comes to mind from my experience when I see a sharp reversal like this. Background: Once upon a time in the history of loyalty programs, you could use alternative payment methods to account for award credits, and whatever you "earned" could be basically paid for by a credit or internal transfer that didn't change the price of the product or service being sold. Not that every program worked this way, but it was an option. Modern accounting practices have changed how this works in recent years. Now you'll notice almost universally that earned benefits in a loyalty program reduce the actual selling price of the product or service, pre-tax and pre-commission. Target Circle is an example of this -- gift cards you earn through Target Circle are a payment type and pay for everything post-tax, but applied Target Circle Earnings actually reduce the price of whatever you're buying pre-tax. The same thing goes for cruise fares. AYW credits wouldn't change an agent's commission, but cruise fare savings would, at least in 2024 accounting terms. That's not to say a line couldn't then come behind and manually cut some kind of alternate non-commission compensation to try to make up for the shortfall, but that would have other tax implications and be highly unwieldy because it would have to be separate from the commission structure. Not saying this is the case, but this is the type of scenario I was mentioning. Here I could see consortiums or agent groups pushing back on getting paid less for the same work on the award booking, and Crystal just throwing in the towel on the cruise fare credit as a remedy. Obviously I defer to anyone that has any behind the scenes knowledge of the case here. Vince

Just adding a little bit to what Keith mentioned, in the sizzle reel video that runs on that page, there are a couple of shots of Symphony that really clearly show the exteriors of the forward cabins on deck 7 (at least briefly). That also helps give you a visual about how minimally obstructed they are. Like Keith said, the bulwark on the railing is probably the main obstruction they're considering, but unlike on Serenity, Symphony's promenade deck is recessed from deck 7, so you would have to be looking down and out to see that obstruction -- it's a little less in your line of sight than Serenity's. Vince

This feels way beyond proofreading and vetting, especially since the intent of the program was so clear. Usually when I see a reversal this abrupt, it's because of an uproar -- which in fairness can come in contrast to vetting because different non-company stakeholders have different opinions and can view the consequences differently. Many times the external stakeholders don't realize the consequences until they start to see the process in motion. Vince

What a bizarre backpedal... It repeatedly says "As you wish credit OR Cruise fare savings" over and over again all over the doc -- that intent couldn't be clearer. This is pure speculation, but it feels like they got pushback on the fare savings option from external stakeholders (I can think of some potential cases) and need to scratch the prior plan. Vince

I don't know if they've done the true-up yet with MM&A (or even if they definitely will, considering the marketing value of the promotion)... My remaining credits (such as they are) are still valid too. If anyone wants to use them, now's the time. Vince

Where are the pics of him visiting the Chez while he's making his rounds around town?? Vince

Very valid observation, and one I support entirely! 🙂 I think Vistaman was asking about the Vintage Room experience that OC was offering during the lunch timeframe in more recent years prior to the shutdown, though. Vince

Prior sailings count towards future awards, if that’s what you’re asking? Several people have confirmed they have credit for past sailings already, including myself. Unredeemed milestone awards earned under Genting will never be redeemable, for several reasons, but I think that is perfectly understandable and doesn’t impact one’s ability to pick back up where they left off before Crystal shut down. To your question about A&K, according to the materials Terry posted, it looks like they’re working on a new unified loyalty program long-term. Vince

haha. I forgot about that! Off the top of my head I don't remember what year that was, except it was in the early 2010's... They had the fountain shut off to re-string all the leads. The deafening silence in the Crystal Plaza in the morning and afternoon, except for the occasional echo of voices), was really creepy! I'm so glad that was my only Symphony cruise without the fountain running. 🙂 Vince

Thanks... The bridge has been gone since the late 90's though, so at least that's not recent. 🙂 Vince

Thanks for taking and sharing the photos, Larry! Random question that is totally unimportant if you don't have time to respond to it... Is the water feature still there inside the Umi Uma entrance? I was just curious, since the half of it that's remained in recent years is pretty much the only original feature left in the room, and it's had quite a run. haha I'm glad to hear Andrew is back! I was glad to see him again on our 2021 Bermuda sailing, and have known him around as long as you two have. He's a great asset to Crystal. Vince

I'm sure they will adjust on other channels too, but I see this across most travel suppliers, and even many types of companies these days. Within marketing, email, social media and web teams often have vastly different turnaround times these days. (At my company the disparity is about 7 calendar days from the fastest to the slowest.). 10 Years ago it was common for almost every communication to be held for the slowest team's work so everything was released at once. These days with the shift towards social media, I only see the biggest, most strategic or confidential releases held for release together. At my company, stuff goes out on social media almost immediately as long as it doesn't require follow-up on a web page, and when the email and web teams can catch up with their work, then great. An announcement to minor changes in a loyalty program would fall into that bucket. Vince

In the context that this is a temporary stop-gap, I think that the changes made sense and the program is in a serviceable state for the time being. Much like it’s been for the past 30+ years I’ve participated in it, it’s kind of no-harm, no-thrill kind of general benefit for where the masses fall into the chart. Vince

It’s a whole new technology…. The website is using AI and millions of historical Paragon Pixel onboard photos to determine the best suggested dress code for each individual guest. 😆 (In my case it just says, “Don’t bother, it’s hopeless either way” nightly.) 🤷🏻‍♂️ 😆 Vince