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From: Mary Graves on 14 Nov 2009 18:33
On Nov 11, 10:07 am, Ray Goldenberg <r...(a)lighthousetravel.com> wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I received this press release from Royal Caribbean, & Azamara.
>
> --
> Ray Goldenberg 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
> Lighthouse Travel  http://www.lighthousetravel.com
> Follow us on Twitter  http://twitter.com/lighthousetravl
> Follow us on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/ray.goldenberg
>
> AZAMARA CRUISES®, CELEBRITY CRUISES® AND ROYAL CARIBBEAN
> INTERNATIONAL® ANNOUNCE NEW eDOCS ANDLUGGAGETAG PROGRAM
>
> MIAMI, November 9, 2009 – Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal
> Caribbean International believe that their
> guests’ cruise experience begins before the first suitcase is packed.
> Today, the cruise lines announced a new electronic
> cruise document, or “eDocs,” andluggagetag program designed to offer
> guests a dynamic, one-of-a-kind pre-cruise
> documentation experience and simultaneously give travel agents an
> opportunity to promote their own business.
> A personalized, interactive, visually appealing, web-based format
> offers guests all the information they need prior to their
> cruise, including travel agency contact details, information on shore
> excursion choices and various onboard offerings
> available during the guests’ particular cruise, travel and
> documentation instructions, and much more. Once the booking
> has been finalized, eDocs will be issued as early as 49 days prior to
> sailing.
> In an effort to offer guests more information in a visually appealing
> way with less burden on the environment, all Azamara,
> Celebrity and Royal Caribbean bookings made on or after December 13,
> 2009, will generate eDocs as the default format for
> guest travel documents. eDocs also will be the default format for any
> bookings made before December 13, 2009, that didn’t
> include a selection of a hard-copy guest travel documents preference.
> Guests will access their eDocs via each cruise line’s
> consumer website:www.azamaracruises.com,www.celebritycruises.comandwww.royalcaribbeaninternational.com.
> “Our travel partners have told us that now is the time to move to an
> electronic option for cruise documents,” said Vicki
> Freed, Senior Vice President, Sales, Royal Caribbean International.
> “Given that close to half of our guests and travel
> partners already select eDocs as their preferred format, the momentum
> has been building toward this type of approach
> as eDocs have become widely accepted by travel partners and cruise
> travelers alike.”
> “While most other cruise brands have moved to a purely electronic
> format, we wanted to continue to offer a choice by
> providing guests the opportunity to purchase a printed document,” said
> Dondra Ritzenthaler, Senior Vice President, Sales,
> Celebrity Cruises. “We realize that our travel partners may choose to
> print the eDocs’ printer-friendly version and give a
> hard copy to their clients, but we strongly encourage our partners to
> share the eDocs link so their clients can experience
> the truly interactive, personalized format.”
> The technology behind the eDocs brings with it various conveniences
> for the guests and travel partners who use them.
> Not only do the eDocs give guests and travel partners around-the-clock
> access to important pre-cruise information, they
> also offer hyperlinks to all pre-cruise activity reservation
> opportunities. Additionally, eDocs offer a table of contents with
> hyperlinks that take the guest to the exact page they're interested
> in, the ability to email a copy to friends and family, and
> the option to print specific pages. As an added bonus, the eDocs that
> Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean will offer
> are visually stunning, colorful and easy to read.
> Celebrity and Royal Caribbean will offer guests the option of ordering
> printed cruise documents, for a fee of $35 per
> document. The up-market, smaller-ship brand Azamara, however, will
> waive this fee for its guests who order printed cruise
> documents.
> “We want to offer our guests the same highly personalized service that
> is already part of the onboard Azamara experience,
> before they even step onboard,” said Edie Bornstein, Vice President,
> Sales and Marketing, Azamara Cruises. “We include
> butler service, concierge style amenities and complimentary specialty
> restaurant dining for every guest, so we wanted to
> include the printed cruise document option, too.”
> Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean announce new eDocs andluggagetags
> It is also possible for travel partners and guests to self-print eDocs
> at no charge using a printer-friendly format; however,
> this version will lack the interactive qualities of the online eDocs.
> For all bookings made through travel partners, the Azamara Cruises,
> Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International
> eDocs will be customized to display the travel agency name and phone
> number. Travel partners can access eDocs through
> the three lines’ travel agent portal,www.cruisingpower.com.
> Not only will the new eDocs program help travel partners avoid
> shipping costs by eliminating the need to mail printed
> documents to their clients, but travel partners also have options
> around how their clients receive their eDocs. Agents can
> receive eDocs on behalf of a client, they can give the cruise line the
> client’s email address or provide the client with the
> booking number so that the client can self-manage their eDocs (which
> saves the travel partner valuable administrative
> time). Alternatively, travel partners can offer their clients the
> opportunity to purchase a printed document.
> A new eDocsluggagetag system designed to save guests time at the
> pier and streamline the onboardluggagesorting
> and delivery process is a crucial part of the three cruise lines’
> revamped pre-cruise planning and documentation
> experience. Qualified guests may requestluggagetagsto be mailed to
> them by completing the request form available on
> each brand’s website. With the new program, guests will receive, via
> mail, a complimentary set of eight pre-printed, selfadhesive,
> color-coded and personalizedluggagetags.Luggagetagscan be
> requested as soon as documents are issued
> and must be requested no later than 14 days prior to sailing.
> Alternatively, travel partners can request that a client’sluggagetagsbe mailed either to the client or the travel agency by
> providing a mailing address at the time of booking; these
> will be mailed 13 days prior to sailing.
> The new eDocsluggagetag program is already available for Royal
> Caribbean International’s guests, and will become
> available for Azamara Cruises’ and Celebrity Cruises’ guests beginning
> November 16, 2009.
> About Azamara Cruises
> Azamara Cruises unlocks the hidden corners of the world for those who
> desire to immerse themselves in the rich details
> of every voyage. The up-market ships – Azamara Journey and Azamara
> Quest – offer an intimate experience, while
> allowing access to exotic destinations experienced travelers long to
> reach. For the 694 guests on each Azamara Cruises
> ship, every moment at sea embodies the pinnacle of luxury, and each
> footstep on shore accentuates the difference
> between visiting a place and getting a true sense of place. This year,
> Azamara Cruises presents the best of enchanting
> Europe, elite Asia, and the most captivating Caribbean and the Panama
> Canal. The line also offers unique cruisetours in
> Europe and Asia. For more information, contact your travel agent.
> About Celebrity Cruises
> Celebrity Cruises offers comfortably sophisticated, upscale vacation
> experiences with highly personalized service,
> exceptional dining, and extraordinary attention to detail. Celebrity
> sails in Alaska, Bermuda, California, Canada/New
> England, the Caribbean, Europe, Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, the Pacific
> Coast, Panama Canal and South America. The
> line also offers unique cruisetour vacations in Alaska, Canada, Europe
> and South America. Noted for four of the top 10
> "Top Cruise Ships in the World" in the large-ship category, as voted
> by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler (February 2009
> readers’ poll), Celebrity’s fleet – including the new Celebrity
> Solstice and Celebrity Equinox, will be joined by Celebrity
> Eclipse in 2010, a fourth Solstice-class ship in 2011, and a fifth in
> 2012. For more information, call your travel agent.
> About Royal Caribbean International
> Royal Caribbean International is a global cruise brand with 20 ships
> currently in service and two under construction. The line
> also offers unique cruise tour land packages in Alaska, Canada, Dubai,
> Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. For additional
> information or to make reservations, call your travel agent.

Since most cruise lines no longer mail luggage tags and I find that
the paper ones are not reliable, there is a GREAT website that
personalizes the tags and they are quite reasonably priced. Check it
out: http://cruiseluggagetags.com
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