Our PVP is gone

[DG2004]

we had a relationship built over the course of a few years and reffered dozens of friends to her....and now she is just gone

 

 

anyone else had this happen lately?

[lennel]

hey I was looking at your clock We are on the Imagination to but it is on the 8th not 7that is that a misprint?

[DG2004]

hey I was looking at your clock We are on the Imagination to but it is on the 8th not 7that is that a misprint?

 

 

I thimk I put the date we are flying down...instead of the cruise

 

opps

[HuntingFool]

We're on our third PVP.....Don't know the reason why they left, whether it is the economy or something different.....They have all been pleasant tho....

[NevadaHiRoller]

we had a relationship built over the course of a few years and reffered dozens of friends to her....and now she is just gone

 

 

anyone else had this happen lately?

 

Sorry to hear. Probably another contribution factor of this economy. I can't imagine anyone voluntarily giving up their job. :eek:

[lennel]

Even though we live in california we are formally from florida it will be a good cruise after we beat alabama Go Gators

[rockwood84]

Had the same PVP for several years, then he left and we got his brother. I actually liked the brother better, but he left a few weeks ago. Because we have a cruise booked, we were assigned another PVP, and he has been in touch. I've talked to him, and like him well enough, but I was also curious about the reason for the seemingly sudden departure of someone who has been a PVP for 12-13 years.

[Valor2005]

Our PVP quit. Didn't find out until I called for a price adjustment for the Military F&F special the beginning of Nov. Guess that explained why she didn't return our phone calls.

[jessemon]

If I remember correctly, Carnival is thinking of phasing out the PVP people....I think it costs more to keep them than it's worth. Looks like an online booking with them or find a good TA....I have always used a TA and never a PVP or booking online.

Same price either way.

[Harley65]

I know we are not to mention names here, but the PVP that left was her initials S C ? I hope not, I worked with her for awhile and finally booked our first Carnival cruise after being a big fan of RCCL. S C was very nice and wasn't pushy at all.

[Cotton]

Hints are as good as the real deal...still a no no.:rolleyes:

 

I called to make final payment recently, and a recording came on that she was no longer w/Carnival. I was transferred to a supervisor who gave me a new PVP, who seems ok. Time will tell.

 

Lots of turnovers lately.

[cruzn buckeye]

Hints are as good as the real deal...still a no no.:rolleyes:

 

I called to make final payment recently, and a recording came on that she was no longer w/Carnival. I was transferred to a supervisor who gave me a new PVP, who seems ok. Time will tell.

 

Lots of turnovers lately.

 

I got a recent email from "my" pvp, only it wasn't mine. Does this mean mine is gone?

[Tapi]

I got a recent email from "my" pvp, only it wasn't mine. Does this mean mine is gone?

 

 

Not necessarily. Sometimes a duplicate lead is created in the database for a variety of reasons (registering on the Carnival site multiple times with different numbers or emails, requesting a click to call, etc). Also, keep in mind that there are plain Reservation Agents or CVS' which people sometimes mistake with PVP's.

 

If you like your PVP, call or email him/her to verify that they are still working for Carnival.

[Tapi]

If I remember correctly, Carnival is thinking of phasing out the PVP people....I think it costs more to keep them than it's worth. Looks like an online booking with them or find a good TA....I have always used a TA and never a PVP or booking online.

Same price either way.

 

I don't think that's correct. PVPland generates a huge percentage of bookings without having to pay the standard 15% commission that TA's normall take. This department alone generates as many bookings as all the TA's in the world combined. I know for a fact that the top PVP generates so many bookings, that if he was considered a travel agency he would rank as one of the top 10 travel agencies for Carnival based on revenue. All by himself, he brings as much revenue as some of the big name online travel agencies.

 

Carnival would be dumb to get rid of this department.

[ruskatab]

Were on our 5th or 6th PVP. We fired one and everytime I call now for a cruise the previous one has quit. The one were assigned to now seems to be really on the ball and will call with specials and emails me if he sees something we might be interested in. I hope he lasts awhile.

[xrayjng]

I think mine is also gone. On the carnival message board I ask about him and used his first name (I did not know that was a no-no) . No one said anything. Live and learn. No one has been in touch with me yet. I emailed mine a few weeks ago ato call me. No one ever responded.

[BostonGrl626]

I think mine is also gone. On the carnival message board I ask about him and used his first name (I did not know that was a no-no) . No one said anything. Live and learn. No one has been in touch with me yet. I emailed mine a few weeks ago ato call me. No one ever responded.

 

Same thing happened to me.....I really really liked the PVP I was working with and hope he is still there and that my email was "lost". Although I know that probably isn't the case :(

[lvtotrvl1]

I don't think that's correct. PVPland generates a huge percentage of bookings without having to pay the standard 15% commission that TA's normall take. This department alone generates as many bookings as all the TA's in the world combined. I know for a fact that the top PVP generates so many bookings, that if he was considered a travel agency he would rank as one of the top 10 travel agencies for Carnival based on revenue. All by himself, he brings as much revenue as some of the big name online travel agencies.

 

Carnival would be dumb to get rid of this department.

 

The costs of labor, benefits etc are far higher than the 15% of the cruise fare paid to agency's...and alot of agencies do not even receive 15%. I'd love to see where you are getting your statistics on PVP's generating as many bookings as all the TA's in the world????....According to the cruiselines, TA's are still generating 78% of the business...

[Cotton]

I got a recent email from "my" pvp, only it wasn't mine. Does this mean mine is gone?

 

Could be the case. I had an email last week from another PVP than mine, and once I was given a 'new' one, it happened to be the one the email was from.

[Tapi]

The costs of labor, benefits etc are far higher than the 15% of the cruise fare paid to agency's...and alot of agencies do not even receive 15%. I'd love to see where you are getting your statistics on PVP's generating as many bookings as all the TA's in the world????....According to the cruiselines, TA's are still generating 78% of the business...

 

 

When you take ALL the cruise lines that don't have the same distribution channels as Carnival, maybe the percentage booked by TA's is higher. But the reality is that Carnival conducts overwhelmingly more direct business than other cruise lines thanks to PVPland, 800-Carnival, Carnival.com and Direct marketing. If you don't think that PVPland has been a good idea, why do you think that NCL snagged Bob Becker, the person who started PVPland to develop a similar department over at NCL??

 

IF you need to know where I get my information, I get it directly from Carnival. If you know anybody who works there, they'll tell you the same thing...

[lvtotrvl1]

Directly from Carnival. If you know anybody who works for Carnival, they'll tell you....

 

I do..and never heard of that one:eek:

[Tapi]

I do..and never heard of that one:eek:

 

I have, more than once, and from persons in pretty high positions :D

[lvtotrvl1]

I have, more than once, and from persons in pretty high positions :D

 

 

Carnival hints margins favor travel agents over direct sales

 

by tcook052 on Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:18 am

http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/ ... d=TW176100

 

Carnival Corp. Chairman and CEO Micky Arison's discussion of Carnival Cruise Lines' direct sales program during an earnings call with analysts on June 19 was unusual in several respects.

 

Most of the ensuing industry buzz resulted from curiosity about why Arison had pegged the growth of his largest brand's direct sales strategy on two former executives.

 

But even more unusual than calling out former employees was that he chose to discuss Carnival's direct sales at all, since it's a topic cruise lines rarely address unless they have to.

 

Over the years, as the percentage of bookings made via direct sales staff has grown, so has the cruise lines' reticence to talk about it. Not since the early 2000s have the lines made public admissions about the percentage of bookings they make direct.

 

At the 2002 Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention, former Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Bob Dickinson asked other cruise executives on a panel to disclose the percentage of their bookings that were direct sales. He said then that direct sales accounted for 8% of Carnival's bookings, while Princess Cruises said direct bookings accounted for about 5% of its sales, Royal Caribbean, 4%, and Norwegian Cruise Line, 5%.

 

Two years later, executives on the same panel at Seatrade said the numbers were trending upward, with Carnival pegging them at "a little north of 15%," Royal Caribbean saying direct sales were still "under 10%" and NCL reporting that they remained at 5%.

 

But last week, NCL declined to comment on its direct sales program, and Carnival would only say that the percentage of direct bookings had "declined fairly significantly" over the last year. Royal Caribbean was the only line to offer any figures, saying its direct sales percentage was in the "upper teens" and was increasing slowly.

 

Tim Conder, managing director of leisure equity research for Wachovia Capital Markets, has studied the cruise lines' direct sales strategies over the last decade. In 2000, he estimated that cruise lines sold about 95% to 97% of their inventory through travel agents, a number that has slowly decreased to about 85% to 90%.

 

The industry standard, Conder now estimates, is about 10% to 15% direct sales, with the major players tending to curve higher. He estimated that Carnival Cruise Lines currently took more than 15% of its bookings direct.

[Tapi]

I saw the same article, but worder a bit differently. Direct sales meaning 1-800-Carnival, not including Web Sales (from Carnival.com) or PVP's

 

By the way, if this article was written in 2008, and the reference to Bob Dickinson is from 2002, then the 15% reported two years later would be for 2004 when PVPland was less than a third the size it is today

[lvtotrvl1]

I saw the same article, but worder a bit differently. Direct sales meaning 1-800-Carnival, not including Web Sales (from Carnival.com) or PVP's

 

By the way, if this article was written in 2008, and the reference to Bob Dickinson is from 2002, then the 15% reported two years later would be for 2004 when PVPland was less than a third the size it is today

 

 

But last week, NCL declined to comment on its direct sales program, and Carnival would only say that the percentage of direct bookings had "declined fairly significantly" over the last year. Royal Caribbean was the only line to offer any figures, saying its direct sales percentage was in the "upper teens" and was increasing slowly.

Last week would be 2008...Direct sales are through the 1-800 number or PVP's.

 

Still wondering where you got the "More than all the Ta's in the world combined " statement????? I'm done here...