Cruise Industry Developments

I’m sure you noticed the "yacht" in the middle of the track during the Miami GP I did too and it instantly became my favourite on-site activation in a long time. For the Miami Grand Prix, MSC Cruises built a full Yacht Club experience right next to the track. A 5-level, superyacht-style structure sitting across Turns 5–9, giving views of multiple corners at once. It wasn’t just bold, it was placed strategically so it showed up in multiple camera angles during the live broadcast. You couldn’t miss it, even if you weren’t looking for it. Inside, it wasn’t just “premium hospitality”. It was their actual offering, translated: → Private cabanas with dedicated seating → Pools and sundecks → Open-air terraces and shaded lounges → All-day dining with a Chef’s Table experience curated by Bagatelle → Multi-deck viewing platforms just feet away from the track → Concierge-style service and reserved spaces throughout Basically, everything MSC actually offers in their luxury cruise experience… without the ocean. Why I like this is simple, being present in F1 isn’t enough anymore. If you want to stand out, you need to do something different. That yacht-style structure in the middle of the track? That actually grabbed attention. The audience was already there. High-spending, aspirational, in a luxury mindset. They didn’t interrupt that, they extended it. Most brands try to explain value. MSC made people experience it. Here’s what they got right: → Bring the product, not just the branding → Turn features into a live experience → Match the environment instead of forcing attention → Build immersion, not just visibility → Let people feel the brand before they ever buy it As a massive Formula 1 fan and marketing nerd, I absolutely loved this. Full credit to the people behind the execution: Antonio Burrello, Suzanne Salas, and the MSC USA team (and apologies if I’ve left anyone out). If Formula 1 content is your thing, I’ve got more on IG: https://lnkd.in/di73rwww #Formula1 #SportsMarketing #F1 #Mercedes #Sports #Marketing #Sponsorships #SportsSponsorships #MotorSports #Sponsorships

Norwegian Cruise Line is changing how it sells cruises, moving to a new base-loading strategy with the lowest pricing early in the booking curve to build demand sooner and support strong close-in yields. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Chairman/CEO John Chidsey said that in the second quarter, it became clear that "in certain areas we were holding price too high, too far out, which limited early demand generation and left us more exposed to close-in discounting." The new policy, he told financial analysts, is "not about discounting the product. It is about managing the full booking curve more effectively, building a healthier booked position earlier, maintaining better price integrity as we move closer to sailing and being more strategic about our promotional activity." #cruisenews #financialnews #leadership #pricing #strategy #sales #marketing #familytravel #cmo Lee Applbaum #caribbeantravel #waterpark #privateisland #bahamas https://lnkd.in/eveRdwat

Imagine launching a product only to find out that your biggest sales channels are changing in a big way or even disappearing. That’s exactly what cruise marketers are facing as iconic destinations like Venice, Barcelona, Santorini, and many others impose bans and restrictions on large ships. As I wrote at Forbes CMO Network yesterday, the breathtaking ports that have long been their "must-have" product features are now off-limits or significantly harder to access. Cruise brochures filled with images of ancient Venice canals and Santorini's blue domes atop sparkling white buildings will have to change. But here’s the real challenge: How do you sell the same experience when the experience is changing? How do you adapt your marketing when your Great marketers know that disruption isn’t the end—it’s a pivot point. Some strategies cruise lines are turning to: 🚢 Redefining the product – Promoting onboard luxury and activities so that the ship is the destination. Floating water park, anyone? 📍 Creating new demand – Elevating lesser-known ports into “bucket list” stops. 🏝️ Owning the experience – Investing in private islands and exclusive experiences beyond city tours. The lesson? Markets shift, rules change, and the best brands evolve. Whether you’re in travel, tech, or any other industry, being too dependent on external factors—like a specific product feature, distribution channel, or regulation—can be risky. How have you adapted when the market threw a curveball? Have you seen a business you know adapt to an obstacle outside their control? Drop your thoughts below! #Marketing #CruiseIndustry #BrandStrategy 

The next billion-dollar brands won’t start with a product. They’ll start with content. They’ll build community, trust, and conversation before they ever build inventory. Because attention is the new supply chain. If you’ve got the trust, you can sell anything. This is not a theory. This is the reality of modern business, and if you’re in hospitality, tourism, or any experience-driven industry, it should be your obsession. So let’s talk about what that actually means for your brand today: 1. Build in public: Stop waiting until something is perfect to share it. Show your process. Let your audience see the behind-the-scenes, the people, the small wins, and even the missteps. You’re not just selling a hotel room or a destination. You’re selling a story people want to be part of. 2. Become the media company: You’re not a resort. You’re not a cruise line. You’re not a tourism board. You are a media company that happens to sell those things. That means you need to post every day like your survival depends on it, because it does. One video can change your quarter. One story can land a new partner. One post can fill rooms. This isn’t theory. I’ve seen it happen. 3. Educate or entertain. Every piece of content must do one or both: No one cares about your room upgrades or the plated dinner shot unless there’s a human hook behind it. Share staff stories. Show local culture. Tell me why your destination matters right now. Give me a reason to stop scrolling. If you don’t interrupt the pattern, you’ll never earn the attention. 4. Engage like a person, not a brand: Reply to every comment. Start conversations in the DMs. Reshare user content and tag them. The future belongs to brands that act like people. If you show up like a billboard, it will bury you. 5. Leverage borrowed trust: Partner with people who already have the audience you want. Influencers, creators, advisors, guests who love your brand. If they trust them, and they recommend you, you win. But don’t micromanage the message. Collaborate, don’t control. 6. Stop measuring vanity, start tracking velocity: Likes are not currency. But how fast your story spreads, how fast people comment, save, and share, that’s your new KPI. Speed is signal. If your content is good, it’ll move. If it’s not, it dies fast. 7. Start now. Not next month. Not next quarter: There will always be a reason to wait. But every day you’re silent, someone else is taking the attention you’re too slow to claim. And once someone else owns the conversation, it’s hard to get it back. Because again, and I’ll repeat it… The next billion-dollar brands, they won’t start with products. They’ll start with content. Audience first, physical products second. Because attention is the new supply chain. If you’ve got the trust, you can sell anything. So, are you building trust, or are you still just pushing product? The game has changed. And if you’re not adapting, you’re invisible.

After breaking down Royal Caribbean's purchase journey, it all makes sense. Deposits 120 days out. Family coordination. Endless configuration options. They've cracked the high-consideration code. Their playbook is GENIUS. Here's how they do it: 1. They make the big number feel small $4,800 average cruise purchase. That's a used car. But Affirm financing at checkout breaks it into monthly payments. Per-day pricing reframes it as $685 for a week vacation. One display price includes all taxes and fees upfront - no surprise math at checkout. The purchase stays complex. The payment feels manageable. 2. They turn overwhelming choice into guided progress 17 cabin categories. 15 dining venues. 30+ shore excursions per port. My Royal Cruise hub doesn't hide this complexity. Instead: "BOOK AHEAD & SAVE... exclusive savings... save your spot." They sequence it: Check-in first. Then payment. Then Cruise Planner. Then flights. Then documents. Twenty paralyzing decisions become five clear steps with progress bars. 3. They use the 122-day window to build anticipation, not anxiety Most brands would panic about a 4-month decision window. Cart abandonment. Comparison shopping. Analysis paralysis. Royal Caribbean sends this 26 days before sailing: "Are you ready to party?" Lists every theme night. Shows what to pack. Builds excitement about experiences, not features. They're not closing a sale. They're counting down to an adventure. 4. They put the scary stuff upfront where it builds trust "Nonrefundable deposit... shall not be refunded... change fees will apply." Most companies bury this in checkout when you're committed. Royal Caribbean shows it at cabin selection when you still have choices. Counterintuitive? Yes. Effective? Absolutely. Transparency at decision time prevents abandonment at payment time. 5. They prove operational excellence before you pay Muster 2.0 safety drill happens in their app. You complete it before boarding. Think about that. They moved the most anxiety-inducing first-day experience into the pre-cruise flow. Not marketing copy about safety. An actual safety process you complete. Competence you experience. THE BREAKTHROUGH: Travel sites face 70% checkout abandonment. Most try to simplify. Fewer options. Hidden complexity. Royal Caribbean realized: People don't abandon because of complexity. They abandon because of uncertainty. So they inform and nurture across the journey. Small commitments. Visible progress. No surprises. Don't overly simplify complex purchases. Sequence them. Most brands fight for cheaper clicks while 70% abandon at checkout. The real money isn't in the click. It's in what happens after.