RCL plans trade portal

ROYAL Caribbean Cruises is planning a number of announcements in the local market, including a new trade platform called Homeport, due to launch later this month.

Speaking to CW at the Cruise Lines Int’l Association (CLIA) Australasia Cruise360 conference, local vp and md Susan Bonner said the new portal would aim to provide easier access to info and do business with RCL.

“We know that the telephone conversation needs to be handled very quickly and efficiently, we know that we have new news all the time and we wanted to provide a single go-to location across the three bands,” she said.

Bonner said the company would introduce certain elements of the agent portal used in the US, but only “those that fit us”.

“The best practices that we can pull from the US will certainly be brought in here but it won’t necessarily be a copy and paste because we know that this is a unique market,” Bonner said.

The new local head joins from RCL’s Miami office where she worked for Celebrity Cruises and stayed tight-lipped on whether the line planned to bring an Edge class ship to Australia

“There are four Edge class ships that have been committed to,” Bonner told CW.

“The rest of the world loves Australia, Australians love innovative hardware, I’m from the Celebrity brand.

“Put the pieces together.” Bonner is pictured with host Ross Greenwood at Cruise360.