Let's face it - air travel sucks these days. That's true on all the major carriers. They are forced to offer prices at ridiculously low rates compared to costs and as a result have engineered the most complicated system of boarding the aircraft possible, a convoluted system of redeeming air miles that almost makes you question your loyalty, baggage policies and fees that defy logic, and seats jammed together so tightly that they must have a relationship with a knee surgeon.  Frankly, that stress makes it way into the psyche of the staff who have to deal with frustrated customers on a daily basis.

American Airlines is no different. If you look at my Twitter stream over the past month you'll see that they have caused significant levels of stress due to canceled flights, extended delays due to mechanical problems, and overcrowded flights etc. but overall the one reason I continue flying with them is that their staff tend to always go above and beyond what is asked to make things just a bit better.

This is the first of an ongoing series talking about social media and the travel industry. I find it fascinating that there is a whole industry devoted to semi-professional travel blogging today, yet almost no one ever asks "what are they looking for". On the other side, the PR people at the travel brands are almost afraid to ask us for specifics out of concern that it may cause a bad reaction or interfere with the individual telling the story.

To help shed some light on this challenge I set out to interview a series of 10 travel brands that work with bloggers to learn more about what they are looking for when working with bloggers as well as social media in general.

In our second interview of this series, we talk with Joyce Olivia, PR at Carnival Cruise Lines.

As you know, we are HUGE fans of Carnival and I think they are one of the top travel brands out there that really understands how social media and the travel industry have come together to extend the experience that most people will only be able to experience for a few days each year, into something that they plan, dream, and remember all year long.