Complete Cruise Solution has told agencies that use its brand names in their web addresses to remove the sites if they wish to carry on working with the Carnival UK arm.
The trade sales operation for P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Cunard said domain names using the names of its cruise lines or cruise ships were “misleading to the customer”.
Jetline Travel business development manager Paul Frost said: “We have received the communication but we got rid of our sites using ship names at the start of the year. This could be a blow to some agents who have bought these domain names.”
Phil Nuttall, managing director of the Cruise Village in Blackpool, said he had not been asked to remove two of his sites, at podeals.com and ccuk.co.uk.
He said: “Podeals.com is just a Cruise Village site; I don’t feel it’s trading off their brand name. If, for example, we registered cunardqueenelizabethcruises.com, that would be different.
“There is a difference between working with lines responsibly and using their ship names.”
A CCS spokeswoman said some agents had been asked to remove their sites. She said: “A customer’s intention when searching a brand term is to get to that brand’s site as it provides the most relevant content. Allowing a third party to use our brand in their URLs can be misleading.”
The decision follows a move by CCS last year to ask agents not to bid on its brand names in pay-per-click advertising. The spokeswoman said the company had been working with agents on this and the rule was now being implemented.
The trade has reported that sales of CCS brands have suffered since its move to 5% commission.
Carnival UK is now rumoured to be negotiating with large-volume agents, offering incentives in return for active promotion of its brands. CCS declined to comment.