Carnival Cruise Line’s highly popular “Agentpalooza” bus tour is hitting the road once again in the U.S. this year. From June 1-4, 2022, the latest version of the trade sales extravaganza will visit four cities—Philadelphia, PA; Baltimore, MD; Norfolk, VA; and Charlotte, NC.
A continuation of Carnival’s 50th birthday celebration, this year’s Agentpalooza tour, the line’s third, is designed as a fun way to thank travel advisors for their support. Carnival’s sales team will travel to each tour stop in a large Agentpalooza-themed bus emblazoned with the line’s motto that #TravelAgentsRock.
Approximately 150 to 200 advisors are expected to attend these outdoor, festival-style celebrations created especially for advisors, says Adolfo Perez, Carnival’s senior vice president of global sales and trade marketing. He'll host the events, along with Christian De La Rosa, a Carnival cruise director most recently aboard Carnival Panorama.
Schedule of Events
The Agentpalooza bus tour will kick off at 10 a.m. on these dates in these cities:
- June 1 – Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing Waterfront Park. One highlight of this stop is that Christine Duffy, Carnival’s president, will make a special appearance.
- June 2 – Baltimore at the Baltimore Museum of Industry
- June 3 – Norfolk at the Perry Pavilion
- June 4 – Charlotte at Symphony Park
Advisors can expect fun interactive learning games, one-on-one time with the line’s sales leadership and team, and snacks and light refreshments from local food trucks. The latter is a nod to Carnival’s Street Eats dining venue on Mardi Gras and coming soon to Carnival Celebration.
As part of this year’s tour, Carnival will also introduce its first “virtual" Agentpalooza experience. All travel advisors unable to join one of the celebrations in person can check out the action online via livestreaming of the on-stage events and many of the same activities. That will allow advisors from throughout North America to participate, says Perez, not simply advisors in the four selected cities.
In 2017, Carnival’s first Agentpalooza bus tour started in Texas, continued to New Orleans, LA, and visited many other southern and Florida cities..The line then trimmed the number of stops in 2018's second tour, which greeted advisors in multiple California destinations.
Perez believes that this year’s line-up of four cities is the right program length. He also noted that advisors at each stop will have the opportunity to sign the bus (see photo below)—something that he said began “organically” on a previous tour, when advisors just wanted to do that.
To further celebrate Carnival’s 50-year history, several of Carnival’s most tenured travel advisor partners will be recognized and will participate in a special birthday cake cutting. Perez said that will happen in each city.
Agentpalooza, both in-person and virtual, also will give travel advisors the opportunity to win a variety of prizes, including Carnival cruise giveaways, bonus Loyalty Rocks reward points and Carnival-branded merchandise. Also, every participating travel advisor will receive a special Carnival booking offer to share with their clients following the event.
Recognizing that the past few years have been "not so fun for most of us," Perez hopes that the events bring cheer to advisors: “This year’s Agentpalooza bus tour is particularly special as it gives us the opportunity to bring the fun that Carnival is known for to the communities where our travel advisors reside, and thank them for their support throughout the years in a fun, interactive way.
In addition, Perez noted that with the new virtual option, advisors based anywhere in the country can be a part of the Agentpalooza action and “tap into the same Carnival fun from anywhere.”
Charitable Component
Another component to Agentpalooza is that the events will help raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with which Carnival has had a decade-long charitable partnership.
In honor of the line’s 50th birthday and St. Jude’s 60th birthday, Carnival is calling on advisors to donate $50.60 to the organization, and the line will match donations up to $25,000. The cruise line said that more details on how to donate will be announced in future communications.
Registration for the 2022 Agentpalooza in-person and virtual events is now available on GoCCL.com. Travel advisors are encouraged to sign up early as availability is limited.
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