Society Central

Wanted to share an experience I am having with American Cruise Lines so everyone will be aware. Please think twice about selling this company and share this information with your friends and colleagues in the industry.

Clients had their first cruise with them in February and enjoyed a positive experience, to my relief because I had heard mixed reviews.

The same clients returned in April from a second cruise where they had TERRIBLE service and extremely poor food quality. They waited and waited and waited for food to arrive and some items they ordered never arrived!  Staff and crew were sullen and unhelpful.  One dining room server walked off the job at the first port of call.  On THREE separate occasions they had to send food back to the kitchen because their dinners arrived cold. These clients are sweet, patient people, so for them to complain about anything is very unusual.

They were already booked for their third cruise with American Cruise Lines prior to departing for the first cruise and this third cruise is coming up in September. 

I sent an email to "customer service" at American Cruise Lines requesting a generous discount off this upcoming cruise based on their disappointing experience on their recent cruise and specifically included in the request that it not impact my original commission amount.  Afterall, I sold these three cruises in good faith – I should not be penalized for their service issues.

While they were willing to adjust the client's invoice by 20% in the amount of $3,042.00 they have docked my commission by $395.46. It is not a ton of money, but it is THE POINT OF IT.

I have exchanged a few emails with the Director of Business Development, about this and the company will not budge on their “company policy” to only pay commission percentage based on the actual amount of the sale after any discounts regardless of the reason for the discount. 

I don’t know why our previous Colorado sales representative left the company, but they have not replaced this position.  I asked American Cruise Lines about this at River Cruise Expo and they do not have immediate plans to replace this position.

The second cruise was roundtrip D.C. visiting historic places like Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, etc.  Another complaint my clients had is they did not allow enough time at these stops.  If you have clients wanting to visit these unique American places, please consider a custom land itinerary with a Virtuoso partner company like American Excursionist, Beyond Times Square or touring with Tauck, Globus, etc. 

Sometimes we can find similar coastal itineraries on Seabourn or other small ship companies where we KNOW the food and service levels will exceed our client’s expectations.

Buyer beware!