The Yachts of Seabourn has announced the addition of a new “Inside Line” online booking portal for travel agents. The portal is accessible from Seabourn’s website at www.seabourn.com , and allows travel agents to book their clients on vacations aboard the line’s award-winning, ultra luxury vessels and make adjustments to an existing booking at any time, from anywhere. Once they get to the portal by selecting the “Travel Professionals” page of Seabourn’s website, agents are invited to register to gain access to real-time inventory on 2009 and 2010 departures of the 208-guest Seabourn Pride, Spirit, Legend and the forthcoming, 450-guest Seabourn Odyssey, which is due to launch in June, 2009.
“Inside Line complements the extensive set of tools and information already available for travel agents on our website,” noted Seabourn president and CEO Pamela Conover. “As our fleet of yachts grows with the addition of three new vessels in the next three years, we want to ensure that an expanding base of agents can book exactly what they want, or make adjustments to existing bookings, on their own schedule, 24/7, without having to call in during hours when our cruise consultants are here.”
Kenny Wong, vice president of sales for Atlantis International, tried out the system during a beta testing phase and agreed: “Our primary goal at Atlantis International is to exceed our clients’ expectations,” said Wong. “Our level of customer service can be challenging. The ease of use of Seabourn’s Inside Line reservation portal and its access to real-time information make it an invaluable tool for achieving our goal.”
About a third of Seabourn’s guests make a booking for a future voyage while they are still on board, to take advantage of an extra five percent savings. Many simply make a deposit on an “open booking” which gives them up to two years to decide on a particular cruise departure. For agents of those guests, Inside Line provides an easy, efficient means to check availability and secure the space their clients want, whenever they contact the agent.
Seabourn Odyssey will be the first new vessel introduced in the luxury segment in over six years, as well as the smallest being built for the segment. It debuts in June, 2009. A second new vessel, Seabourn Sojourn, will launch in June 2010 and a third, as yet un-named, will debut in 2011.
