Royal Caribbean International celebrated the fifth anniversary of its agent rewards scheme, Club Royal, and its own 50^th birthday, at an event in Leicestershire.

The company announced a host of changes to Club Royal including going digital, giving agents double spending money on certain experiences, a new training platform and the ability to make charitable donations through the scheme. It also celebrated its best performing agents with an awards on the night.

“Club Royal has proved itself to be hugely successful,” Tom,
vice president and managing director of Royal Caribbean, told Cruise Adviser. “It’s not a cheap scheme
to run so we need to make sure it works and that it’s driving the right
engagement. As we’ve got to five years we’ve taken a step back and really
looked at what made it so great to start with,  which is why we’ve introduced some key
changes.”

More than 3,500 agents have attended Club Royal events, including special fam trips in South Africa and Dubai. During the evening Bouldin told attendees that all of them would get the chance to see Perfect Day next year.

Among the biggest changes to Club Royal will be getting rid
of the plastic cards and replacing it with a digital version – meaning agents
can access rewards from anywhere.

The company also revealed that last year 2,035 agents booked
a Royal Caribbean holiday for themselves and now those booking either even
night Allure of the Seas European sailings or Perfect Day cruises will receive
double spending money – £200 for Blue members going up to £600 for Platinum
members.

A new training scheme – LEARN (Learn Everything About Royal
Now) – will launch in October and offers a more engaging experience for the
user, with agents using artificial intelligence and intuitive learning. It will
offer a more personalised experience for agents wanting to learn more about
Royal Caribbean.

Another new part of the scheme is the ability for agents to
make charitable donations to causes including the Family Holiday Association,
Southampton Children’s Hospital and WWF. Royal Caribbean will match every
donation made.

The winners of Royal Caribbean’s trade awards, which were
based on 2018 performance were:

• Best for Europe – World Travel Holdings
• Best for Caribbean – Cruise.co.uk
• Best for ex-UK – Iglu
• Best for rest of world – Cruise 1^st
• Best homeworker – Sally Landers, Travel
  Counsellors
• Best Club Rewards Ambassador – Michael Blackburn,
  Tui
• Managing Director’s Award – Nasser Gerab