MailPound Blog

My daughters and I recently went on a Caravan Tour to Costa Rica.  This tour was amazing and was well run by extremely professional, knowledgeable, pleasant and caring individuals. 

We started out our tour in San Jose, with the group meeting for the first time at night after all flights had arrived.  By dinner we had already started to find friends among the group of "strangers."  Our first full day started with a trip to Poas Volcano.  We enjoyed the scenic drive, passing coffee fields, roads lined with flowers, and a wonderful view of the valley and San Jose. It was a rainy day at Poas, but that did not "dampen" our fun.  After all, we had all come expecting to experience a Costa Rican rain.  On a quiet walk by myself I saw movement and stopped and waited.  Within minutes, a violet sabrewing hummingbird stopped and hovered a foot in front of my face.

We returned to San Jose and walked to the Gold Museum with its Pre-Colombian Man exhibit and thousands of different examples of Pre-Colombian gold artifacts, with pieces dating from 500 BC to 1600 AD.

We left San Jose early the next morning for our trip to the Tortuguero rainforest.  On the way, we stopped in Braulio Carrillo National Park to take a tram ride through the lower level and forest canopy sighting toucans, a semiplumbeous hawk, a white-crested coquette hummingbird, a beautiful bright blue morpho butterfly, "broccoli" trees and numerous other exotic plants and trees. Our walking tour found lizards, leafcutter ants and tiny strawberry poison dart frogs.  After lunch, we continued along the scenic rural road, seeing cattle and cattle egrets. We then went to Cano Blanco and got on our boats for the trip to Tortuquero National Park.  We were greeted at our lodge with drinks and snacks and then checked into our individual jungle lodges to settle in before dinner.  Walking around our lodges and dining hall we were often greeted with excitement over another "sighting" such as an iguana or 3-toed sloth or a family of monkeys high in a tree -- a reminder that we were in the middle of a rainforest!

During our 2 days in Tortuguero we were blessed with sunny days, although through the night, the sound of rain lulled us to sleep.  We were greeted early in the morning by birds and the growl of howler monkeys. This group of monkeys spent the morning in the tree outside our lodge eating and swinging from the branches.  We enjoyed our canal cruises where we saw many lovely flowers, caymans, turtles sunning themselves on the logs, needle nosed bats sleeping in a row high up on the trees, lizards, including the Basilisk lizard and web-footed water walking lizard, and birds -- far too many to mention, but including the tiger heron, Montezuma Oropendola, Resplendent Quetzal and Great Green Macaws.  My favorite canal cruise was in the "black waters" where  black-water reflects the mirror image of exotic thick jungle on either side. We also visited the Green Turtle Research Station and a walk along the beach where the turtles nest to the town of Tortuquero.  And each time we returned from a canal cruise we were greeted again with drinks and snacks.

That evening after dinner we were entertained by a calypso band, and although everyone was determined to sit and listen, after a little encouragement everyone was up, dancing and laughing!  We ended the night back in our lodges sleeping to the nature sounds of the rainforest. The next morning after breakfast we once again boarded the boats for our final trip on the Tortuquero River back to the dock where our motorcoach was waiting to take us on our next adventure. 

On our way to our next 2 night stay at Arenal Volcano, we stopped at a banana plantation, and then after lunch, in the Selva Verde Rainforest Reserve to walk the 300 foot suspension bridge over the jungle river.  Then we drove through the beautiful San Carlos Valley to Fortuna.  Our hotel overlooked Arenal Volcano and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. The next morning greeted us with so many rufous-tailed hummingbirds, tanagers feasting on bananas and other colorful birds and flowers.  After breakfast, we headed north for the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge passing sugar cane and pineapple fields, and orange and teak plantations.  We also stopped briefly to photograph the "iguana tree" -- a low growing tree filled with orange male iguanas and many brown female iguanas enjoying the morning sun.  We cruised on the Rio Frio, seeing howler monkeys and spider monkeys, anhingas, cormorants, blue herons and more.  We cruised to the Nicaraguan border and then headed home.  Back in Fortuna we stopped for ice cream, shopped a bit and then headed to Baldi Springs Hotel & Hot Springs, where we relaxed in the numerous volcanic hot spring pools with waterfalls, gardens and water slides.

Leaving Fortuna we drove to the Puntarenas region along the Pacific Coast, stopping for a hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.  After another delicious lunch we continued down for a two-night stay at the all-inclusive Fiesta Doubletree Resort on Dona Ana Beach just in time to meet up on the dock, cocktail in hand, to watch the sun set on the Pacific. 

We left the next morning for Manuel Antonio, stopping on a bridge to look down at the crocodiles lounging on the riverbank.  Due to a random accident on the bridge leading to Manuel Antonio, we were unable to continue on, which was a disappointment, but entirely out of the control of Caravan.  Our tour director and driver made every effort to substitute this activity, and we entered the Carara Biological Reserve to enjoy our boxed lunches and were fortunate to have 3 scarlet macaws fly overhead.  Our group was then given the option of staying for a hike through this tropical bird and wildlife sanctuary or returning to our beautiful hotel for a relaxing afternoon of swimming, eating or enjoying cocktails by our choice of many swimming pools.

Our trip just about over, it was time for some shopping, so on the way back through the Central Valley to San Jose, we stopped in Grecia, home of the only Metal Church in Central America, and to the colorful town of Sarchi, home of the painted oxcart and the Sarchi Oxcart factory, with shops filled with handmade artifacts including oxcarts, painted bowls and trays, natural wood serving utensils, furniture, jewelry and carvings made from the many beautiful native woods, including rosewood, teak, purple heart, and mahogany. Our next stop was at a coffee plantation and the chance to shop for those who wanted to bring home some delicious Costan Rican coffee.

We returned to San Jose for our final night. Our farewell dinner was in a lovely restaurant on the 17th floor overlooking the lights of the city - a delicious meal enjoyed with our new friends. 

We left the next day, many of us with the wish to return to Costa Rica.  The food throughout our trip was delicious and plentiful with many Costa Rican dishes.  There was always a large variety of choices to please everyone, including vegetarians, who would find a lot of meatless choices.  The fresh fruit was wonderful and I especially loved the flavor of their scrambled eggs and potato dishes.  Gallo Pinto, the national dish of fried rice and black beans, was one of my daughter's favorites, along with ceviche, a citrus-marinated seafood appetizer.

Costa Rica is a beautiful and peaceful country which has chosen to concentrate their economy and efforts to the ecology of their special land, and the education and healthcare of the people. It was very interesting to discover that there are many similarities in the issues that concern them and the U.S.  The Costa Rican people are outgoing and friendly by nature, which added significantly to the entire travel experience.

It was a wonderful experience and we could not have expected or wanted any better treatment by our tour director and driver.  They went beyond the expected to make our trip fun and interesting.  Our personal experience was with Katia and Braulio.  So often we heard the phrase, "Well, my friends, we have a surprise for you..."  whether we were making an unexpected stop to view a two- or three-toed sloth, a family of monkeys or some other special treat.  My daughters and I do not usually take group tours, but I would highly recommend Caravan.  This tour was so well planned and relaxing, despite all the many activities throughout the day.  We were always given all the information we needed for the next day's activities.  There was never a reason to worry, either about where we were going, how we would get there, or whether we would arrive safely.  Our driver was excellent and safety was always the primary concern.

So if you are a nature lover and enjoy the outdoors, if you want a taste of all the best Costa Rica has to offer, I would definitely recommend a Caravan Tour.

A.  Some of the cruise lines do allow you to sometimes sail as a triple.  The Princess allows you sometimes, NCL most of the time, Regent sometimes, Royal Caribbean Celebrity no, Oceania sometimes and Windstar sometimes.  Many times we can offer that you will just have to email me to ask.  My e-mail is dana@platinumseminars.com and I promise to respond to you quickly.

Q.  Do you recommend the company, Destination Europe, for purchasing air that is on your website.
A.  Yes, I highly recommend them.  We actually just did a trip with them a few months ago to Iceland.  We went with a group of about 15-20 people, which also included the president of Destination Europe, the president of Platinum Seminars, and myself.  We flew business class from NY to Iceland and flying business class was very nice.  In Iceland we stayed at a beautiful Hilton and did a land package.  The land package included hotel, food, transfers, we even went four wheeling in the Tundra and did Whale Watching. That was one of the great things offered by Destination Europe.  So I can vouch for them personally and hope you check them out.  You can find the # to Destination Europe on our website.  Please note that the # on our website is not a general line but a private line for Platinum Seminars.  It is only for Platinum Seminar agents.  So please check them out, I highly recommend them.

Last Friday’s Coffee Break, featured the Mesa CVB and James Tevault gave a great presentation on such topics as the best time to visit Mesa, advantages of working with the Mesa CVB, activities and sights in Mesa and much more!  We received some great questions, which I have posted below along with James’ answers. If you have any additional questions please leave a comment below or e-mail James at James@VisitMesa.Com.  And if you missed the live Coffee Break, be sure to check out the recorded version in the link found at the bottom of this page.

Q.     Can you give us an idea of what it will cost to stay in Mesa?
A.  In Mesa, depending on the time of year, we have 3 rate seasons.  Typically January to May is our most expensive time to visit the Mesa area or even just the Phoenix metro area as a whole.  The cost also depends on the size of the group or if it is an individual traveler.  Travel rates can range anywhere from $99 for a group and closer to $159 for an individual traveler during peak season.  Once you get into the summer months, which would be from June to August, rates can range anywhere from around $59/$69 to around $109/$119.  Once you get into our last season, which would be September to December, you are going to be right in between the first 2 rate seasons.  Just keep in mind the cost depends on the size of the group and availability.  Mesa CVB put your request in front of enough hotels so that it saves you time and work ensuring you are getting the best value for your client.

A.  We work with Greatline Tours and several other receptive tour operators.  I apologize that I do not have the names in front of me now but you can contact Donna Cluckey for that information. Donna is our real travel professional for the tourism market and she would be more than happy to provide you with that information.  Her email address is Donna@VisitMesa.Com.

Q.     Do you have a Mesa specialist training program?
A.  We do not have a Mesa specialist training program as this time.  We are partners with the Arizona Office of Tourism and we are part of the Arizona certification program.  This program is called AZAP and that information is on our tour and travel page.  If you click on there you will be able to certify for the state of Arizona, which does include Mesa information as well.

A.  That is definitely very easy for us to do.  We have a great partnership with several transportation companies such as Enterprise car rentals and their 15 passenger vans and also Enterprise if people want to take care of their own transportation but just need a vehicle to do so.  We also work with Super Shuttle for more of the individuals and large conventions where people are coming in at different time frames.  They do a great job and they also offer a discount for Mesa CVB clients.  We also have several other partners, such as busing companies that can assist with these needs.

A.  That is a great question!  The best time to visit Mesa in regards to climate is from September to April.  You will be able to experience the cooler evenings and it is just gorgeous!  If you are looking for value, the best time to visit will be from September to mid January.  During that time you will get the most decent rates. There are also some great rates available in April.  Throughout the whole Phoenix area, you are going to pay a bit more once you get into the middle of January through March. We usually have a lot going on during that time and it is in high demand.

Q.     Do you have house, condo or townhouse accommodations? 
A.  There are several of these available in Mesa.  Currently, we do not work with them from a Mesa CVB standpoint but we would be more than happy to put you in contact with them.  We just would not be able to assist with the overall planning of it.

Q.     What long stays are available for us snowbirds?
A.  The rentals are probably going to be the most economical.  There are a lot of rentals available during this time.  We do have a couple of extended stay properties that are out here, from the Residence Inn to the Extended Stay America, but you are probably going to be better off renting a townhouse or condo.   

Q.     Where can I view this presentation?
A.  We have posted in on MailPound. Please click here to view it. 

Happy Monday everyone,

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day! I just wanted to say thank you again for all your great ideas and suggestions for my husband and I.  I was overwhelmed by the great responses and enjoyed sharing the ideas with my husband. Thanks to all your great ideas we had a perfect first Valentine’s Day I will never forget.

For Valentine’s Day we made reservations at a nice local restaurant and enjoyed some time out on the town.  We then went home and enjoyed a nice movie and snuggled with some wine.  As a Valentine’s gift we are planning on going to Disney World sometime between November and December.  My husband, Shayne, is in the Air Force and Disney is having a great military offer for 2009.  It is such a great deal we just cannot pass it up!

I just want to say thank you again for giving us a perfect 1^st Valentine’s Day as husband and wife.

Thanks!

Sheona and Shayne Miller

Q.  I have a family who is planning a trip to Oahu in June 2009.  They would like to stay in the Turtle Bay area- are there any good deals or promotions available in May to late June?
A.The best place to look for that information would be on our consumer site gohawaii.com and contact a supplier directly.  We do not have too much detailed information on supplier offers on our agent site, agents.gohawaii.com.  Our agent site is more for the sales and marketing toolbox.  You will notice that on any page of the agent site there is a link to our consumer site gohawaii.com. You can click on that link and do a search for Turtle Bay Resorts and go to their site.  You will find the travel trade section on their site that will provide you with the best rates.  You might also consider going to one of the wholesale partners you work with and see what kind of rates they offer.  We have a list of wholesale providers on our site.  Just click on “wholesaler partners” to see a list of the providers we work with.  Each provider listed is a clickable link that will take you directly to their site.

Q.  Do you have to retake the Ke Kula O Hawaii test each year?
A.  No you do not.  Once you take the course you are a graduate for life.  If you haven’t taken it since June 2006 we suggest going back and taking a look at the new information.  We have revised the course work since then and are revising it again now.  So it is good to go back once and awhile to see what is new, however it is not required.

Q.  How long do you have for completing the training for the Hawaii Specialist?
A.  You can take as long as you need.  You can take a couple weeks or even a couple months if you need to.  There is nothing that is going to track your progress along the way.  It is up to you to read the materials as you find time and at the end you will take the final exam.  During the final exam you will be limited to 20 minutes to answer the 20 questions.  That is the only time restriction.  Also, so you are aware, somewhere in the course work there is a password that you need to have in order to access the final exam.  It was built in to keep people from skipping the course work and going straight to the exam.  So you will need to read through the course work in order to find the special password to access the final exam.

Q.  What criteria is needed in using the picture images?
A.  On the site agents.gohawaii.com you will see “Marketing Toolbox” in the left toolbar.  Click on that and agree to some usage rights.  A page will come up that with the terms and conditions.  On that page you will click images down at the bottom and select “I agree.”  Next you will be brought to a page where you will be able to view over 900 of our images.  You can sort them by different categories on the left, such as activities or people.  You can also do a keyword search on top of the page to find a particular item.  Next, select the image(s) you want and add it to your collection basket, just as if you were shopping online.  You will then go to the collection basket to retrieve your items/images when you are done.  It will explain all the restrictions required for you to use the image.  Basically, all we ask is that somewhere in the caption you write HVCB and the photographer’s name.

Q.  We are planning a Hawaii night in February.  Do you offer any door prizes or giveaways we can order?
A.  We do have things available but mostly in the form of print and educational materials.  We do have a great 10 minute video you can show either before, during or after your Hawaii night event.  If you would like to order any of these materials please go to agents.gohawaii.com and click on the “sales tools materials” section.  There will be an order form you can use to order the materials you would like.  As far as amenities our budget is somewhat limited on that.  If it is something you really need you can try contacting us at hds@hvcb.org.

Q.  I have a family who wants to go to Hawaii.  They have been there before and want to stay at a certain hotel.  I could not locate the hotel on my normal site.  Is there a site on gohawaii.com that allows us to search for a particular hotel?
A.  The best way to find that particular hotel would be to go to our consumer site gohawaii.com and do a search for what part of the words you know.  You can also do a search by the island if you know what island it is on.  You will then be able to choose where to stay and it will provide you a listing of all the accommodations on that island by type, for example all bed and breakfasts or all the vacation rentals.  You can also sort by hotels and resorts.

Q.  How do you sign up for leads?
A.  On our consumer site, gohawaii.com, there are a few places where the consumer can request more information about Hawaii or request materials.  When they do that they will be brought to a page that will ask them for their name and address.  Based their zip code, we will provide them with 2-3 Hawaii specialists in their area.  In order to be apart of that listing all you have to do is go to agents.gohawaii.com, take the Ke Kula O Hawaii course and successfully complete the exam.  Once you complete the exam we will automatically integrate you into that list of referred agents

Q.  Are there any plans to add videos that we can refer to our clients to via Internet rather than via DVD?
A.  Oh yes! We actually already have them, and in fact we just received an award for it yesterday.  You will notice at the top of the site, gohawaii.com, there is a banner that says “Stories of Hawaii.” If you click on this you will be able to view the videos and you are even able to save the links to embed them on your website or to save them to your computer.  They are really great videos! They are short, 3 minute videos that talk about what to do on the islands from a local perspective.  We urge you to take a look at these and to start using them for your Hawaii marketing.

Q.  Is tourism down in Hawaii? I went to book my clients to a hotel and was surprised to find it booked.
A.  It varies depending on the property, the island and the time of year.  New Years was pretty busy for us and we also have a Media Convention that comes in and takes up a lot of room.  If you look at the business economic development tourism numbers for Hawaii you will see that our visitor’s arrivals are down but it is not a dramatic amount like what we saw in 2001 post 9/11. 

Q.  Are there any FAM trips available to Hawaii?
A.  Thanks for that great question.  This is what Mahalo month is for.  If you go to agents.gohawaii.com and sign in or create a profile, you will see a banner that says “Discover the Sights…” Click on that and you will then see a press release that will talk about Mahalo month and will take you to the website mahalomonth.com.  There you can register to get some fantastic deals to come to Hawaii.  They provide deals from your rooms to your activities and as you all know air to Hawaii is going down everyday.  Basically a mini FAM trip!

Thank you to everyone that attended January 16th’s coffee break featuring VIP Seats.  Nick Giammusso gave an informative presentation that I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.  We received some great questions, which I have posted below along with Nick’s answers.  If you have additional questions please leave a comment or e-mail me at smiller@mailpound.com.   

Q.  Do you handle the airfare?

A.  At times we handle the airfare.  For the Super Bowl we were handling the airfare up until Monday when we cut it off.  It just becomes way too difficult for us to do the tickets wholesale and the airfare portion of it.  Usually 2 weeks before an event we will cut off the airfare.  We also do packages, for example, corporate groups that include airfare, hotel, tickets and transfers.  But again, usually 2 weeks before an event it gets too crazy and difficult for us and we cut off our airfare reservations.   

Q.  Is the 5% commission for all of your services?
A.  Specifically the 5% commission is for the Super Bowl.  The rest of our commissions are at 7%, however for some of the major events where our margins are a little lower, like the Super Bowl or Final 4 Basketball, those types of events are 5% commission.  Anything else you do through us would be at 7% commission.  

Q.  Can we book on the website? Can one add commission on the website?
A. You can definitely book on the website and you can also become a travel agent affiliate with us.  When you become an affiliate with VIP Seats, you can put our banner on your website.  If any business comes from that banner, it automatically gets tracked coming from your company and a commission check is generated for you.  You can call us and we would be more than happy to go over how to become affiliated with us.  Just click on Travel Agents at the top of our website and fill out the easy form to become affiliated with us.  Once you fill in and submit the information, you will receive an e-mail from us that will provide you with our tracking code and information for you to put on your website.  This allows you to link directly to us.  You will have access to our inventory and our database directly on your website.  If any of your clients order from your website, we will receive a unique tracking code letting us know it is your client.  So it is easy to track any business from your company and again the commission is automatically added. 

Q.  Are all event tickets non-refundable?
A.  Yes, all tickets are non-refundable.  Once you place an order with us, we purchase the tickets for you.  Once the tickets are purchased, we cannot get our money back, so we do not offer a refund.  It is just like if you were to purchase a ticket on Broad Way or through Ticket Master.  Once you buy your ticket, or your client’s ticket, there are no refunds.  With that said, we are in the business of buying and selling tickets.  So we would be more than happy to try to sell the ticket for you and get as much of your investment back as possible. 

Q.  Are we able to add a service fee to increase the commission above 5%?
A.  Yes!  You can add whatever service fee you want; however, you would not be able to do it online.  You would have to call in your order and tell us exactly how much to charge.  We would then charge your customer’s credit card and make sure you get a bigger commission check. We can add the service charge right into the cost of the tickets or package.  We have done a lot of them this week with the Super Bowl. 

Q.  Do you need to have your host agency register with you to sell?
A.  You can register yourself or your host agency can register with us.  It does not really matter to us.  Just know that whatever name your registering, will be the person receiving the commission check.  If you register with us as your host agency your host agency will receive the commission check.  If you register with us as a Travel Agent under your name, then you will receive the commission check.  Anyway you want to work it we can do it for you.  You just have to call us once you register to let us know who you would like the check made payable to. 

Q.  Do you pay commission on the tickets and hotel?
A.  Yes, of course.  Any business you refer to us, we are going to give you commission on.  That is already built into our pricing structure when we provide you our quotes. Again, if you want to add a service charge to that you are more than welcome to.  Please just let us know before hand so we can charge your client’s credit card accordingly. 

Q.  Do you do jazz cruise tickets?
A.  No, we do not really get into the cruise entertainment.

Q.  When will you have Super Bowl 2010 information for sale?

A.  We are upfront with you and we tell all of our clients that for the 2010 Super Bowl, just like any other event, tickets will go on sale through the NFL.  You have to go to the NFL website and register your name.  About 99.9% of the time you are not going to get tickets.  You can try to put your name in and get access to the tickets and maybe you will get lucky.  We will not have specific 2010 information until this Super Bowl is over.  We will start putting our packages together for the 2010 Super Bowl probably in a couple of months.  I would say check back with us in a couple of months, and we should have our Super Bowl packages ready to go for 2010.

Q.  Do we have to register with you?

A.  No, you do not have to register with us.  Most agents that register with us offer a link on their website to our website so their commissions can be tracked.  But no, anyone is welcome and we would be glad to help you in anyway that we can.

Q.  Are Super Bowl tickets e-tickets?

A.  No.  There are no e-tickets for the Super Bowl.  Super Bowl tickets are very, very detailed and have holograms on them.  A lot of our events will have e-tickets but the Super Bowl is definitely an event that does not have an e-ticket associated with the event, especially since the tickets have an $800 face value. 

Q.  Where are your offices located?
A.  Our office is located in Buffalo, NY.  We assist all of our clients from there.   We are also on site for some of our major events, so we do take care of our clients on site as well.   

A.  Last year we moved 150,000 people and not one of them was returned to the ship late.  We use operators who use radio control and know how important it is to get the people back to the ship in time.  We also time our trips.  If we say it starts at 11am and it is 2 hours, you will know your client will be back 1 or 2 hours before the ship departs.

Only once, 2 years ago, did we ever have someone miss a cruise.  We had a family of 4 who hopped on a 3:30 / 4:00 helicopter/dog sled tour in Juno, Alaska.  They got to the dog sled camp and were enjoying the excursion.  The weather set in and the helicopter could not land.  So the family stayed at the Glacier dog sled camp with the other people and the dogs. J The next day the helicopter came in and picked them up and flew them to Skagway.  Now we were VERY lucky.  The family said when they got to Skagway they called their travel agent and said that was the best experience they have ever had on their vacations.

Happy Tuesday everyone!  As most of you know we started doing training webinars each week starting in October.  Thanks to all of you, they have been going great and I really hope you are able to utilize all the tools MailPound has to offer you.  I have received many great questions and have posted the most popular ones below.  If you have any additional questions please leave them in the comment section below or feel free to e-mail me at smiller@mailpound.com.  For a full schedule of our upcoming webinars and to register please go to www.MailPound.com/training. 

 Q.  Does a person need an IATA or CLIA number to register for MailPound?
A.  No you do not. 

Q. How do I update my contact information on MailPound?
A.  Once you are logged into MailPound you will go to “My Account” on the far left hand side and click on “My Profile.”  The first page you are brought to will allow you to update and make any needed changes to your contact information.  Press submit when you are finished. 

Q.  Are BookCCL.com and GoCCL.com the same?

A.  No.  BookCCL.com is a great website Carnival provides to you, our travel partner, where you can make bookings, and use its great sales tools and marketing resources.  It is a great website, but we know not everyone chooses to use it and we understand that.  So that is where GoCCL.com comes in, it is for those of you that use other systems to book your Carnival cruises.

For example, when we implemented our new functionality of maintaining groups online, we needed to provide you with resources to use this new group functionality on the system you choose, whether it was BookCCL.com or one of the many other GDS systems available (for example: Amadeus and Sabre).  GoCCL.com is a “one stop shop” regardless of which system you use, where you can find those resources.  We have quick reference guides, webinars, manuals and great updates on current and upcoming projects.

Also if you go to GoCCL.com on the right hand side of the “Tags” section, that I showed you before, there is a tag titled “GDS.”  You can click this tag and find resources for those other global distribution systems. There is also a tag titled “API” with available resources for API users. 

Q.     My password never works on BookCCL.com.  I requested verification of password and it says it was right.
A.  The best advice I can give you, and everyone for that matter, is: If you are having password issues please contact our user support specialists and they will be more than happy to assist you.  There phone number is 1.800.845.2599 and they are available Mon-Fri 9am-8pm EST and Saturday 9am-6pm EST.  If you are repeatedly having issues, they are the best source for user support.  Give them a call and they will be happy to help you.

A.  ABSOLUTELY! We have a program that is exactly what you are looking for!  It is called eLink.  eLink is Carnival's exclusive online reservations tool. Your clients can shop and reserve their cruise vacations from within your agency's website.

In order to participate,  logon to BookCCL.com (Not already a member? Click here to register!) and then click on the “Sales Tools” menu along the top of the page. There is a link titled “Download eLink” that you can click on.  It will provide you with the information that you can copy and paste onto your website.

 Q.     Does GoCCL.com replace BookCCL.com?A.  No, it does not replace BookCCL.com.  GoCCL.com is a supplement to not just BookCCL.com but also the other systems you use to book your Carnival cruises.  In other words, you can benefit from visiting GoCCL.com regardless of which system you use to book Carnival cruises- There’s something for everyone! Q.  There are numerous problems I have encountered using the new BookCCL.com website.  I thought I would mention them here.  I have already contacted the bookccl techs and they informed me there are glitches and they will be fixed by the end of November.  How will I be sure they are addressed and fixed?  Should I post them on GoCCL.com?
A.  Absolutely! I encourage you to post them on GoCCL.com.  I do know that BookCCL.com’s new booking engine redesign is an ongoing project.  Once it was launched, we received additional feedback and have been working on those enhancements. As we work on these enhancements and special requests, there are some glitches and we are aware of...  But most importantly, we are working on fixing them as quickly as we can!  So yes, we are hoping to make a release soon with all those fixes. 

If you visit GoCCL.com some of them might already be reported, but if they are not by all means please report them there.  I am in constant contact with the members of that project team and I let them know exactly what your concerns are… and they are really good at resolving them.  We really do have a great team on that project!

Q.     What is your email address or how can I contact you directly?
A.  There is actually a link provided on GoCCL.com to contact me directly.  Simply click on the “Contact” link on the top menu. You can also email me at GoCCL@Carnival.com. Of course, the BEST method of contacting me is by posting a comment on the blog!

Q.     How can I remove vacation protection from the rate quote?
A.  Well it is very simple.  There is a drop down box with yes or no.  It will automatically default to yes but you can simply have it default to no by simply selecting no from the drop down box.  It is really that easy! J

Q.     Do you have to set up a login from GoCCL.com if you have one for BookCCL.com or can you go from one to the other?
A.  Actually, with GoCCL.com there is no login required.  The only “requirement” I have is that I do ask you to leave a comment, even if it is just a short hello!  =) Q.  Will this presentation be made available?A.  Yes.  It is posted on MailPound.com.  Simply click here to view.