CruiseCompete back in Norwegian’s good graces

A year after it broke relations with CruiseCompete, Norwegian Cruise Line has stopped discouraging agents from working with the consumer cruise auction site.

Camille Olivere, Norwegian’s senior vice president for sales in the Americas, said a change that CruiseCompete had made in its business model for Norwegian listings only had made it possible for the cruise line to endorse it again.

CruiseCompete’s traditional business model, which still applies to all other cruise line sales, takes trip requests from consumers, then solicits quotes from the more than 500 agencies with which it works.

Norwegian said that process subverted the intent of marketing dollars it provides agencies to meet certain tactical sales goals. Agents who used the funds to bid down cruises on CruiseCompete undermined the integrity of the program, Olivere said.

In April 2013, Norwegian sent a memo to agents saying it had asked CruiseCompete to cease using its materials to promote Norwegian on its site. In fact, the cruise line said it would not contract with accounts that used the site.

But Olivere said last week, “It’s no longer a bid process.”

More than 500,000 consumers a month visit CruiseCompete.com, according to a statement from company CEO Bob Levinstein. Olivere said that some agencies that Norwegian values wanted to resume using the site.

Levinstein said that the change was a one-off to accommodate Norwegian’s concerns but that, in general, he has not changed CruiseCompete’s business model.
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Follow Tom Stieghorst on Twitter @tstravelweekly.