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Disney Cruise Line has changed the commission it affords travel agents as it pertains to bookings made while clients are onboard. All other commission rates remain the same.
For onboard bookings made on or after Oct. 26, the commission rate is now capped at 10 percent. Previously it was 16 percent.
"Disney continually evaluates its business practices to see what works best, and the change was made accordingly," said a spokesperson of the change.
News of the commission change first surfaced in Disney's own backyard Wednesday.
Speaking at the Ensemble Travel Group's annual conference in Orlando, Royal Caribbean International vice president of sales Vicki Freed talked of the changes another cruise line was making to negatively impact travel agents. Sources later confirmed that Disney was the cruise line that had made the change.
"There will be no ripple effect [regarding other cruise lines doing the same thing]. That move concerns us. Royal Caribbean will not match it," she said. "If clients book onboard with us, we send them back to you and we pay you the full commission," she said. "We never want to misbehave with our travel partners."
Freed drove the point home that this is not a move that Royal Caribbean intends to turn into a trend.
"We wouldn't be successful without you being successful. We want to encourage you to have more of your clients book onboard with us," she said.
What remains to be seen is if any other cruise lines will follow Disney's lead and make similar changes or hold their ground as Royal Caribbean has.
Robin Amster contributed to this report
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