Tuesday, February 06, 2007

NCL NAMES DIRECT LINE CRUISES FASTEST GROWING AGENCY OF THE YEAR



Onboard the christening of the brand new Norwegian Pearl a few weeks ago, our agency was honored with the prestigious award of being named NCL's fastest growing agency of the year for 2006. In addition, we were inducted into their President's Club Elite program. All of the staff at Direct Line Cruises are so delighted to receive this award and we look forward to a great relationship with Norwegian Cruise Line for many years to come. Below is the press release issued directly from Norwegian Cruise Line:

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) has named Direct Line Cruises as its 2006 Fastest Growing Agency of the Year. The award was presented to Direct Line Cruises on board Norwegian Pearl during the ship’s inaugural cruise.

NCL chose New York-based Direct Line Cruises as its 2006 Fastest Growing Agency of the Year based on the company achieving the highest percentage growth of any NCL travel partner. In light of the growth, Direct Line Cruises was inducted into the exclusive NCL President's Club Elite. President’s Club Elite members represent the top 10 producers overall in North America, as well as five additional agencies who meet the President’s Club revenue threshold and demonstrate the highest percentage growth year over year. Direct Line Cruises was already a Silver Captain’s Club Member with NCL; however, their incredible growth in 2006 took them to the highest growth level within President’s Club.

"In a short time, Direct Line Cruises has achieved significant growth selling NCL, and we are honored to name them our Fastest Growing Agency of the Year," said Andy Stuart, NCL’s executive vice president of marketing, sales and passenger services. "In addition to phenomenal sales in their first year, Direct Line Cruises has done an excellent job of understanding and communicating the genuine differentiation offered by NCL with Freestyle Cruising."

Since its beginning in 1995, Direct Line Cruises (www.directcruiselines.com) has grown to become one of the largest official agencies for the cruise industry. From its corporate headquarters in Hauppauge, New York, Direct Line Cruises now handles reservations for more than 25,000 cruise passengers throughout the United States and the number is rapidly increasing every year."

We are thrilled to receive NCL’s Fastest Growing Agency of the Year," said Greg Coiro, CEO of Direct Line Cruises. "Over the past year, we worked very closely with NCL to learn how to successfully sell NCL and Freestyle Cruising to our clients. The response from our clients has been overwhelmingly positive, so we look forward to an even more successful 2007."