In an attempt to minimise the disruption of long call hold times, Royal Caribbean is introducing a ‘Call Back’ function for travel advisors. The feature is first available to trade partners booking groups but is expected to be available for U.S.- and Canada-based advisors by the end of August.

“We diligently listened to feedback from our valued travel partners and have made strides in our call centers to be more efficient and ease hold times,” said Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service at Royal Caribbean International.

The functionality is offered to advisors when the hold time is more than 20 minutes. When travel advisors call the contact center, they are prompted with the option of a call back. If accepted, the travel advisor leaves a brief message with their call-back number. A direct number to a land line or mobile is required; extensions are not supported.

This is the latest action from Royal Caribbean to help advisors maximize their time and reduce hold times. Other automatic enhancements have included FlexPay, which enables advisors to pre-schedule up to 10 automatic payments, an FCC redemption tool, and eQuote, a marketing tool that helps advisors create tailored quotes.