ACTA, Carnival Presidents Meet in NYC

Following months of persistence, ACTA president David McCaig (right, in the picture) met with Carnival Cruise Corporation president Arnold Donald earlier this month in New York City — the first time the two had met since ACTA sent a letter to request open collaboration and express the membership’s growing frustration with Carnival brands.

In October 2013, ACTA submitted a letter to Donald to inform him that Carnival brands have fallen out of favour with ACTA members for a variety of reasons. The most concerning was the issue surrounding Non Commissionable Fares (NCFs) and the mistrust it creates between the consumer, the cruise line and members.

McCaig stated, “We appreciated the way our request was handled. After some standard follow up we were met with a friendly response by Roger Frizzel, senior vice-president and chief communications officer for Carnival Corp. Roger worked with ACTA to understand and address our concerns, ultimately setting up a meeting with Mr. Donald.”

During the meeting, ACTA was able to learn more about Carnival Corporation, their leadership, and commitment to “repairing a frayed relationship with travel agents.”

NcCaig added, “we were pleased to learn that Carnival Cruise Corporation is steadily trying to improve their commitment to travel agents. For ACTA’s part we made it clear that Canada operates differently than other countries and that ACTA member agencies expect their relationships to work as true partnerships. This includes fair compensation in return for their commitment to selling and referring a product.

McCaig confirmed that, “the meeting brought forward clarity to the challenges that Donald faces as leader of the cruise corporation. Both of us now have a clear understanding of each other’s challenges and are committed to working through them to explore win-win opportunities that benefit both parties, our agency members and the supplier.”