Carnival Cruise Lines is encouraging travel agents to pitch to cruise rookies with a new summer baseball-themed program that includes sales tips. Available on www.GoCCL.com, the series will span nine weeks and gives agents the chance to earn up to 5,000 points in the Travel Agent Rewards Program. Agents who complete all nine innings will be automatically entered to win a seven-day Caribbean cruise for two.

“I’m on the road the majority of the year and what I hear most from travel agents is that the biggest opportunity for growth out there is with cruise rookies,” said Joni Rein, Carnival’s vice president of worldwide sales. “We agree and, based on industry estimates, there are 220 million people who have never taken a cruise in the United States. This summer series is all about getting back to the basics and helping partners narrow their focus and have some fun while finding cruise rookies right in their own backyards and communities.”

The first program, or “inning,” which launched last week, features a video of Rein as a pitching coach giving a pep talk to her team at a baseball field. Travel agents can begin the series at any time and revisit innings they missed. Participants will find codes at the end of each inning, which they may enter in the Travel Partner Rewards Program for points through Sept. 2. New innings will launch every Wednesday through Aug. 22.