MIAMI — Carnival Cruise Line has enhanced travel partner support with the addition of a new Independent Agent Program as well as a dedicated group desk designed to provide additional technical support for travel agent questions related to group bookings.

The new Independent Agent Program will offer local trainings, sector-specific webinars, dedicated newsletters and targeted support for this group of agents. Leading these efforts are sales directors Alicia Steuart and Sheila LeBlanc, who will be supported by sales managers based in various regions.

“We created these new sales regions and the independent agent program to provide added business development support for travel partners,” said Carnival’s Vice President of Sales and Trade Marketing Adolfo Perez. “The growth in these geographies and the independent agent channel, combined with our recent preferred supplier agreements with TRAVELSAVERS/NEST, Signature and Ensemble, make this the right time for us to expand our field team resources.”

The new Groups Desk, which launched earlier this month as part of Carnival’s contact center service team, is available to travel agents Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. The Groups Desk team is trained to assist travel agents on specific questions they have related to group bookings, says Perez. The desk can be reached at (800) 327-5782.