Compass Spring 2023 | Page 40

NEW CRUISE LINE POLICIES ARE IMPACTING ADVISORS

HERE ’ S HOW NEW NCF POLICIES WORK , WHAT WILL CHANGE AND WHAT THE INDUSTRY IS SAYING .
WORDS / ROSSILYNNE SKENA CULGAN

For years , when travel advisors booked cruises , they didn ’ t earn a commission on the full fare . Items like port charges , administrative fees , pilot fees and waste disposal fell into the bucket of dreaded “ non-commissionable fares ” ( NCFs ).

But a landmark new policy from Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCL ), announced in late 2022 , will pay select advisors for what used to be NCFs on advance bookings . For now , Norwegian Cruise Line is the one making headlines , so we ’ ll dig into its policy in detail . Whether that change will become an industry standard remains to be seen , but in the meantime , here ’ s the breakdown of the new policy , how it ’ ll affect advisors , how it ’ ll impact clients and what could lie ahead .
With the NYC skyline in the background , the Norwegian Prima sets off .
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