By Les Lee Roland

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A couple of issues ago, I asked for YOUR assessment of %-docs from the cruise lines. It is your choice — a Flip or a Flop?
I received lots of E-mails, and your response was overwhelming that E-docs are not acceptable to both agents and their clients. In fact, it was hard for anyone to write something positive about them.

Some responses:
“I do not like E-tickets. I find they serve a purpose in certain situations, as in last minute bookings or where you just don’t want to spend a lot of time servicing the booking. But most of the time, I would prefer to have docs that I can go through, check and then send on to my client.”

“I believe in doing business the old fashioned way. In today’s world, we have to sell ourselves and our service. Sending our clients to the cruise lines’ Web site to print their own tickets is one more service they are doing for themselves and it takes the client one step closer to thinking they do not need a travel agent. I believe this is being done on purpose. I think the cruise lines are trying their best to train our clients to go to their sites and bypass us.”

“If I choose to print the E-docs myself, I am spending more money on toner and paper, and more time by having to print them and then get them put together in a format that looks nice. It’s way too time consuming and costly. If a client is not computer savvy, I am doing this for them. I’m also having to print the shore excursions. The luggage tags are a real joke. Paper luggage tags? How ridiculous is that? WAY TOO MUCH TROUBLE.”

“When a client purchases a cruise, they deserve to have something tangible in hand. I think it should be a choice between the agent and the cruise line. Unfortunately, I feel this is the beginning of a trend and I’m sure it won’t be long before others follow.”

“Don’t like them, especially the baggage tags. Had 18 people going on a cruise and reinforced each one with clear packaging tape to ensure prompt delivery. Without tags to designate cabin numbers, bags are delivered last, late or not until claimed by owners.” 

“We only do Princess E-docs as it offers no choice. Clients handle the online data input and boarding pass. A few need our help, and we graciously oblige. Perhaps we’ve given out a couple hundred, and did the pre-registration.”

And on and on.....
“I don’t really like E-docs better than actual tickets, but it’s a survival mechanism to not only accept one’s misfortunes, with which we are bombarded, but to embrace them, all the while denying that their purpose is to destroy us in the end.”

“I hate E-tickets. There is always the possibility in the back of my mind that my clients don’t have everything they need. Bring back that beautiful Holland America Style package of documents.” 
“My agency has been in business for 23 years and we specialize in groups, especially the senior market. Less than 10% of my senior clientele owns or operates a computer. Yes, I could sit and enter all their information for them, but when you have a group of 20, 30 or more passengers, that is very time consuming.
“I believe cruising should be very special and that my passengers should feel very special.  I do a pre-trip or pre-cruise meeting with my groups and that’s when the excitement starts. They have had to make their decision to cruise many months prior...They have been waiting to meet their fellow travelers and they are like ‘kids in a candy shop’ at that meeting waiting to receive their documents! They clutch those cruise packets and little gifts I give to their hearts and leave that meeting so excited, anticipating our cruise, that we are off to a great start for a wonderful travel experience. Giving these same passengers papers run off my printer will not have the same impact.”

“My clients do not like the E-docs at all for two reasons. The pre-printed luggage tags force them to collect their baggage when they get off the transfer bus, stand in line to check in with a porter and give them their bags, then, finally, stand in line to check in for the cruise. This greatly increases the check-in time, not to mention added stress. They also greatly prefer the nice and handy spiral-bound format of the document package. The presentation is nice, compact, and much easier to handle.”

“(One cruise line) bullied our Host agency into taking the E-docs, and when we complained, the owner said that the line is giving the company a hard time changing it back to regular documents.”

“The cruise lines love them because they save tons of money in mailing. Why not continue to pay us less but cost us more? Maybe if enough of us complain, they’ll switch back again.”

“Thanks for dealing with this pet peeve of mine. Printed E-docs look ‘tacky’, especially if the client is paying several thousand dollars on their vacation.”  

What Can We Do?
Out of all the E-mails I received, only one person liked the E-docs. But if millions voted for Sanjaya on American Idol, nothing surprises me anymore.
So what do we do about it as agents?
A cost factor is involved for the cruise line. Some tour operators charge a fee to send documents to your office. Are you willing to pay for cruise documents? 
One cruise line already includes a charge for handling and a ticket fee. This may refer to airline tickets, but it is printed on the invoice.
(At press time, Carnival Cruise Lines rolled out an E-Doc system, saying that guests can opt to have traditional paper documents mailed to them or their travel agent approximately 30 days prior to their cruise — Ed).
The answer from one cruise line in regard to people who do not have Internet connections is for them to go to the library and use its computers. 
Well, I think if someone doesn’t use a computer at home, they won’t know how to use one at a library. And it is not the librarian’s duty to register and run off these tickets.
I happen to be married to a guy who just started using E-mail last year. He’s fabulous in many ways, but he cannot even order a film on Netflix. Without me, he could never get a boarding pass for the airline or pre-register for a cruise. He may be in the minority, but some agents deal with people like him every day.
After printing out E-docs for a small group, I went ballistic. Besides the money for paper, ink and the fancy envelopes I purchased at a stationery store, it was the time spent. Time is a treasure for me. If I have to spend one hour or more printing out E-docs, that is one hour or more I cannot spend selling cruises or tours. And if my productivity drops, I won’t have the money to buy print cartridges and paper.
Where I used to buy two or three ink refills at a time, now I order them in packets of six. Even the salesperson at the Staples store in my neighborhood commented about my increase in purchases. In fact, I am ready to buy stock in the company.
When it comes to groups — and we all know the extra work involved — wouldn’t it make sense for agents who sell 16 cabins to get a case of paper as a bonus?
Sell 24 cabins and get a new printer. Wouldn’t that be an incentive? But please, Mr. Marketing Guru, don’t make it a GAP or Amenity point bonus. Second thought, I might use a point or two for a good looking set of docs.
We hear all the time that the majority of Americans have never sailed. Less than 20% have had a cruise experience. I love to see the reaction of a client when they get their formal documents, like in yesteryear. They would go through them page by page. Yes, a lot of the pages were “legaleese” but it was something substantial for people who were paying thousands of dollars for a vacation. Past passengers cannot believe what they get now.
The docs that were filled with shore excursions, rental tux info, and gift orders don’t have to be printed by agents to give to the clients. If those sales drop off, whose fault is that?
I have no problem giving out information on the shore excursions I offer instead. At least I make a commission on those. I ask my clients if they are celebrating anything special, and sometimes hint to a hubby that I could order flowers — and charge it to him — if he wishes. So, I have done my part, and saved about 30 pages of paper.
With several major cruise lines doing this, and rumors about more joining, we must air our opinions. I know we have to save the environment, I love trees, and green is my favorite color. But isn’t there a way to have a compromise?

Some suggestions
1. Continue your complaints and send them to someone in the cruise line’s corporate office. Don’t waste your time complaining to your local rep. Write short and concise comments.
2. If you are attending CRUISE-A-THON, don’t gang up on the corporate people attending the event and monopolize them with complaints. Have your opinion written out, with your name and agency, and give the note to them to take back to headquarters.
3. Give your cruise clients a letter stating that the use of E-docs was a decision the cruise line made. Ask that if they are unhappy with them to please mention it on their comment card. Maybe the “suits” will respect the passengers’ thoughts more than ours.
4. If you don’t have confidence in the new E-doc luggage tags, don’t give them out. Tell your clients to ask for them at the pier. Less chance of them being ripped off their bags.
5. You, the agent, have to put your client’s needs first. You have to offer the best experience to them, and you have to make the decision on the suppliers you want to deal with.
And finally, I hope that this isn’t déjà vu. I remember when we agents lost our airline commissions and went to charging service fees. Airlines could never back down after that. Agents were now making something for the work put in. Charging a fee for printing out docs when you make a commission for selling a lasting experience just doesn’t make sense.