Carnival Furthering Our Commitment to a Level Playing Field: Value-Add Policy Revision

[JohnG]

Dear Valued Travel Partner,

Today marks an important step in Carnival's commitment to ensuring that all travel partners have the equal ability to sell the Carnival product at the same great rate. Nearly two years ago, we introduced a popular revision to our Advertised Price Policy, which ensured a level playing field for all agents. Following our 2010 policy change, we continued to hear from many partners that they saw the ongoing value-adds in the marketplace as excessive and another form of rebating and Carnival was encouraged to revisit our policy once again. We are proud to announce that effective August 1, 2012, we will take this commitment one step further by revising our value-add policy.

With this revised policy, value-add booking incentives may only be non-cash equivalent items and have a value equal to or less than USD 25 per passenger. The policy applies not only to advertising, but to all forms of communication, including in-person, phone or any other means. Our former policy allowed non cash-equivalent value-adds that were less than five percent of the Complete Cruise Fare or USD 25 (whichever was greater). In addition, it allowed for cash-equivalent value-adds that were less than 10% of the Complete Cruise Fare (with approved marketing plans).

Moving forward, there is no pre-approval process for value-adds. However, we do reserve the right to review promotional offers to ensure they align with brand guidelines and may request that partners remove or change offers should they not meet these criteria.

What are some example of value-add items you may use for incentives? The main requirement is that they be non-cash equivalent items. Examples include tote bags, hats, beach towels, memory books, sunglasses and Carnival gifts delivered onboard (Bon Voyage items).

Examples of cash-equivalent value-add items that are no longer accepted as part of the revised policy include but are not limited to cash, gas cards, onboard credits, pre-paid gratuities, Bon Voyage bar credit and photo coupons (i.e. cash equivalent), airline miles, third party cash back offers, reduced or waived deposits, free or discounted insurance, free or discounted shore excursions, free or discounted hotel nights, reduced airlines, gift cards or anything that equates to a cost associated with the cruise.

In speaking with the thousands of agents we come into contact with each year, we hear significant praise for our firm stance on "no rebating." Many of you have asked us to take an even stronger stance on this issue, which we did in 2010 and we're doing today. Our objective is to create a structure that provides you with the assurance that the rates you quote won't be undercut by competitors. In revising this value-add policy, we're able to better ensure that value-adds are being used to enhance agents' sales and marketing plans, which is what they are intended to do.

We are extremely excited about these changes and believe they will have a positive impact on you and give you a terrific boost to the partners out there who prefer to sell on the basis of service and expertise.

Happy Selling,

Joni Rein

Vice President of Worldwide Sales

Carnival Cruise Lines

Edited July 7, 2012 by JohnG