Cruise Holidays International reports it has named three cruise lines and one land vacation supplier as their preferred suppliers of 2012. The awards go to: AmaWaterways (River Cruise Line of the Year), Celebrity Cruises (Premium-Luxury Cruise Line of the Year), Royal Caribbean International (Contemporary Cruise Line of the Year), and Funjet Vacations (Non-Cruise Supplier of the Year).
About 200 Cruise Holidays franchise owners from across the United States and Canada voted on their favorite suppliers, vaulting these four highly-respected companies into the top position for each category, the group reports.
Many franchise owners base their decision for this award on how easily they can do business with each supplier on a day-to-day basis, the group says, including the quality of the product; strong representation by the supplier locally; and other criteria that may be unique to that particular franchise owner.
AmaWaterways received the award for Cruise Holidays’ first-ever River Cruise Line of the Year award. “We added an award category for Best River Cruise Line because of the skyrocketing popularity of river cruising, and to demonstrate the increasing, vital importance that it already plays for our franchise owners and agents,” said Mark Schiffner, vice president and chief operating officer, Cruise Holidays.
“The travel agent community has always been an extended part of the AmaWaterways family,'" said AmaWaterways executive vice president and co-owner Kristin Karst.
The “Solsticizing” of the Celebrity fleet has helped this premium cruise line become an even more attractive product for Cruise Holidays agents to sell. “Beyond the hardware is an extremely committed team of people, from its executive offices to the Business Development Managers working day in and day out with our agents – and that’s really what this award from Cruise Holidays is all about,” added Schiffner.
This is the sixth consecutive year that Royal Caribbean International has been named either the best contemporary cruise line or easiest cruise line to work with by Cruise Holidays franchise owners.
“With constant changes in our industry, it is a huge testament to Royal Caribbean International that our franchise owners would continue to select them as their favorite Contemporary Cruise Line, year over year," said Schiffner.
Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and services for Royal Caribbean International commented, “Travel agents are indispensable in our industry and Royal Caribbean’s Loyal to You Always is our continuous commitment to support our valued partners such as Cruise Holidays and help them sell cruises more effectively; increase their profits; and grow their network.”
Funjet Vacations came out on top of an impressive list of 33 non-cruise suppliers, including tour operators, travel insurance providers, ground transportation businesses and shore excursion companies, said Schiffner. “Funjet Vacations has made it easier for our cruise experts to be knowledgeable about land packages, especially to top destinations such as Cancun, Riviera Maya and Jamaica.”
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