MSC Cruises, at CLIA's cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale, unveiled a new booking system for travel agents, called MSC Book, which aims to make it easier for them to book the line's cruise products. MSC Book will debut in June, though MSC executives would not commit to specific date.
MSC Book will have a modern look and feel with interactive features. Agents will be able to book a cruise in four easy steps, including selecting cruise and stateroom, with the ability to select up to five staterooms; finding flights and hotels; adding pre-paid special services such as spa, shore excursions, specialty dining and beverage packages; and check out.
In addition, agents will be able to save client itineraries as favorites so that they can quickly be viewed later; receive a quick quote or quick option at any point during the booking process; and quickly find the best cruise options using search by price range, destination, departure date or embarkation port. Agents also can search for clients' MSC Club loyalty status by name or MSC Club number.
Using MSC Book, agents will be able to compare prices, dates, itineraries and any additional items included in the price for up to three cruises on a single page and print or email to clients. They can select staterooms via an interactive deck plan, which allows them to browse by deck and position of the stateroom and quickly see stateroom availability for the category selected.
They can view stateroom photos and layouts as well as detailed descriptions and videos of the 12 ships in MSC's fleet. They also can request a group directly from MSC Book and then use the booking engine to manage the group; send or print customer booking confirmations and e-tickets; and read commission and other accounting reports on a new and improved dashboard that details all previous business with MSC.
"This is revolutionary for us and it goes live in June," said Ken Muskat, executive vice president of sales, public relations and guest services for MSC Cruises. "We're getting agents to test the program and putting final touches on it. The new and improved reporting dashboard will give our travel partners the ability to pull up all revenue and booking information, overall business and revenue year over year, so we can have smarter conversations with our travel partners."
In another move to support agents, and as part of its existing "Serving You" initiatives for travel professionals, MSC Cruises will once again be conducting a series of roadshows across the U.S. These shows will focus on training agents on MSC Book, as well as providing company updates and engaging the agency community in a two-way dialogue.
The series of 18 roadshows, scheduled between June-September this year, will take place in Albany, N.Y.; Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago (Schaumburg), Ill.; Dallas, Texas; Detroit (Troy), Mich.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Houston, Texas; Nassau County (Long Island), N.Y.; Lancaster, Pa.; Miami, Fla.; New Brunswick, N.J.; Orlando, Fla.; Scranton, Pa.; Tampa, Fla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.
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