President's Message
In late March, cruise line analysts working for the Goldman Sachs investment firm issued a report urging Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International to cut travel agent pay to a standard 10 percent level (basically, cutting out override commissions).

Cruise Lines Drive Future Growth by Betting on Travel Agents
By Gary M. Fee, OSSN President

In late March, cruise line analysts working for the Goldman Sachs investment firm issued a report urging Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean International to cut travel agent pay to a standard 10 percent level (basically, cutting out override commissions). With this one simple step, the analysts predicted, Carnival could save $330 million a year, and Royal Caribbean would keep another $140 million in its pockets.

What happened? "Absolutely not," said Vicki Freed, Carnival's senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We have no plans to do this," echoed a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean.

read more