Joystar, a leisure travel agency network, says its new cruise-booking engine has gone live on more than 3,700 private label and co-branded affiliate web sites. The private label cruise booking engine, similar to Joystar's corporate "Cruise Only" web site [www.joystarcruises.com], provides Joystar affiliates, including independent travel agents and online marketers and their clients, with direct access to cruise vacation pricing and booking capabilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Joystar's blocked group space inventory has also been loaded into the new system to make it easy to check space availability and book multiple cabins. Joystar affiliates will receive booking confirmations automatically loaded into their back-office accounting system with copies sent via e-mail when a cruise vacation has been purchased. Consumers can send agents a request for more information about a cruise they have found on the site. The booking engines can feature the affiliates' branding throughout the entire customer booking experience. More than 20 cruise lines are featured—12 with full electronic booking capabilities with three more scheduled to be added within the next few months. Features include real-time cabin category availability; best available cabin displays; deck plan layouts, cabin configurations, photos, and dining/seating options; port-of-call information; and immediate confirmation from the cruise line.
