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HAL, Silversea top winning cruise lines
Holland America/Windstar was rated the mainstream cruise “easiest for agents to work with in 2005,” in the 10th annual Cruise Week survey.
Silversea took first place honors for the second year in a row in the luxury line category.
Princess, which led the way among mainstream lines last year, was second this time around.
“Cruise Week says HAL/Windstar drew praise for its group department, while Royal Caribbean took some heat for its group policies more than it service levels,” wrote OpenJaw.
Some agents criticized NCL for a lack of pricing constancy.
“NCL needs to get in step. On groups and individuals, they quote a price in writing, and then when you call in deposits the prices change,” complained one agent.
All seven of the luxury lines rated among the top four in mainstream ratings. Silversea and Crystal were at the top.
Luxury lines came under some criticism in the survey for trying to grow their business.
One Cruise Holiday member complained that he found it impossible to get any response from the luxury market.
“I personally have made direct phone calls to the cruise lines and even enlisted the help of the corporate offices of Cruise Holidays and have never received a follow-up phone call or enquiry,” said the agent.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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