The Online Insider Is Cruising Again! Expedia Cruises...
Written: May 22 '06
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One of the best kept secrets online is that there are companies that run websites for other folks. The sites that want a store on their site might not be good at selling, might not have the infrastructure or they might just not want to enter a particular business.
So if you buy sports gear from MVP.com or Dicks, you're actually buying from GSI, Commerce Inc - the company that runs the site for them. Similarly, there are people that run what are called white label or private label websites in the travel business. Hotels.com and Travelnow.com power 1,000s of sites to sell travel products. And so does a company called NLG. National Leisure Group is the largest seller of cruise product online. At one time or another they've been the cruise area on Yahoo Travel, Priceline, Hotwire, Expedia, and Travelocity. Travelocity now sells their own inventory, but if you go to any of the other sites that I just named, you're actually buying from NLG, who runs the cruise area for them.
This wordy prologue is just to tell you that Expedia is a great site for hotels and air, but they might not be one of the best choices for cruises. If you're on Expedia, you can see that the Expedia site looks suspiciously like the priceline cruise site (toggle between them... it's true). This means that the inventory (except for a small % of deals) is generally the same between the two sites. What Expedia doesn't want you to know, but what the Online Insider will tell you, is that NLG also runs their own sites called vacationoutlet.com, cruises.com, and cruisesonly.com. You might find better prices, though similar inventory at these sites.
Let's go ahead and use expedia cruises, though, and see how the site works.
One of the first things you see when you start the process of booking an online cruise is that the number to call an operator is on every page -- sometimes several times (On the homepage of expedia cruises, the telephone number is shown 3 times!). Why would they do this when all the other travel areas of the site are built to discourage call in activity? Simple economics. Travel agents like Expedia (nee NLG) make a lot more money booking a cruise than they do an airline ticket... sometimes as much as 30x on a cruise booking! So it's in their interest to get you to someone who can help you fast. Also, cruises are the great unknown in travel. Everyone knows about the ships, but not many have actually cruised. So people have a ton of questions! Anything from "how big is the cabin" to "what do I have to wear to dinner" to "do I need a passport" to "what should I tip on a cruise" is asked... prospective cruise customers are a curious bunch!
Other than the phone number, you'll notice that expedia does a great job of merchandising their cruise inventory. Again, because customers don't really know a lot about cruising, they keep it simple... they break it down by cruise brand (the 5 boxes in the middle of the homepage), destination (the 5 boxes at the bottom of the screen), by cruise line, and by deals. They also give you a great starting place - the large search box at the top left of the homepage.
Let's check out a cruise leaving from the North East. Because folks don't know that they might have to fly to a port - and because expedia doesn't want to scare them with the prospect of extra cost, the homepage doesn't even address this idea. It simply asks you to look for a destination for your cruise and when you might want to leave. The site treats air as an add on when you're already vested in the process a bit more. NOTE: Most cruise companies contract directly with the airlines for tour air rates -- which means you'll probably get a pretty good airfare by booking the air tickets with the cruise shop.
The screen comes back with 77 options for cruises to the Caribbean in June... 6 pages of cruises. If you look closely at the page, you'll see yellow arrows that contain the promotions that you'll get for booking online... either upgrades or shipboard credits. I'll explain what these are in a minute. We'll choose the Caribbean Princess cruise and go to the next page. This page shows the itinerary for your cruise. The eight day cruise stops at 3 islands along the way and the site helpfully shows you a map and gives detailed information about all the stopping points from Frommers.com.
If you look at the top of the page, you'll see a series of buttons that can be pushed -- all of them will tell you valuable information about the cruise you're looking at. The default view is the itinerary, but you can see the cabins available on the ship, the decks on the particular ship you're looking at, the amentities that you can expect, as well as the reviews and photos that other travellers have left. Pay attention to the last two, as customers can leave great feedback and tips for you!
Before we move on, let's address a few questions...Why is there a promotion, what constitutes an upgrade and what is a shipboard credit?
First, cruises really want full ships to go out of port. Similar to airlines, there's almost zero cost in having another body on a ship, so you might as well be full when you sail out. In order to make sure they're packed, cruiselines will add promotions like credits and upgrades to incent people to book on ships that aren't full yet. Thus, the promo here.
Second, what's an upgrade mean? Most cruise ships have tons of different inventory levels. Customers can cruise below decks in smaller cabins or in the larger staterooms (often with balconies) above the water line. The better the accommodation level, the higher the cost. When the cruise lines have inventory, they'll bump customers to better cabins. Also, they will attempt to upsell the better cabins throughout the process, as the marginal cost to get a customer to pay a bit more for better rooms is close to zero for them.
So what is a "shipboard credit"? The cruise business has many facets. One is that the ship is really a floating mall, where customers buy luxury goods, wine and spa items at a really nice clip. In fact, most customers will spend from $500-1000 on board the ship while they're on it... another reason to do promos! So the shipboard credit is a way to prime the pump to get you to buy some merchandise while you're steaming across the sea.
In order to proceed to the next page you have to pick your sailing date. On this trip, only one of the sailings has a promotion running, so I'll pick that one.
When I choose my sailing, I'm asked to pick a cabin type. The page is very descriptive and tells me exactly what each level means in terms of size, occupancy and amenities. It also shows the price per person and total. Since the cabin types will be foreign to most first time cruisers, you should really surf around to get a good understanding... or you could just call them to talk with a dedicated cruise rep. Most of the reps have actually been on the ships they sell, so they're very good folks to talk to! You can select your cabin and move to the next screen from here.
After this step, expedia asks you if you need air travel -- but you can either buy it from them or arrange it yourself. Or, if you're lucky, you can drive to the port. The site again shows you the price per ticket and total price for your travel. The page after this will total your whole package price and show you terms and conditions for your purchase. It also offers travel insurance, which might be an option for you, as cruises are expensive trips!
Before completing the process you need to login to Expedia or create an account. It's an easy close from here. If at anytime you want to bail on the site and call the number to finish, you can do that, too. Just call the number and repeat your steps with the agent.. it's very fast and easy.
After purchase, your cruise documents are shipped to you by FEDEX and you recieve emails that can help you to understand your upcoming vacation. The folks at NLG run the Expedia site well and are professionals that will help you to get the best deal on cruises you can afford!
NOTE: Just like buying a bed, don't skimp on cruises. Try to go on the newer ships with longer itineraries, as the bargains might be a bit too bargain for you!
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Caribbean Cruise
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Member: Brian H
Location: Northeast
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