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CruiseCompete.com has long been known to experienced cruisers as the premier online cruise marketplace on the web. CruiseCompete is unique. It is the only web site where consumers can get compare multiple, custom cruise offers from competing travel agencies all working to offer the best cruise deal. To find out more about the service, we sat down with Bob Levinstein, Co-Founder and CEO of CruiseCompete, LLC.:
Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to CruiseCompete?
A: You bet. Experienced cruisers know that to get the best cruise deal you have to shop around. The total package you get–the cruise price, onboard credit, other amenities–can vary greatly based on which travel agency you choose. CruiseCompete helps consumers select a cruise sailing and create a quote request in our system. Hundreds of independent travel agencies have immediate access to this request, and they respond with their best, custom offers. As these cruise offers are private, one-to-one communications, the deals are typically much better than those cruise lines allow to be posted online. Consumers remain anonymous while they compare the deals and read users reviews and ratings of the travel agencies offering them. It is then up to the customer to decide if they want to contact one or more travel agents directly to ask questions about the cruise or to book.
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Q: You are celebrating a milestone anniversary this month, September 2018; what do you see when you look back?
A: September 15th was the 15-year anniversary of the launch of CruiseCompete.com. In that time we’ve delivered more than 16 million cruise quotes to over 1.2 million users. We’ve always been focused on making the cruise shopping experience faster and easier for consumers, and the cruise selling process more efficient for travel agents, and that hasn’t changed. Our efforts over that time have been in making continual incremental improvements.
On the customer side, it’s largely been about providing more information to help people choose the best cruise for them. We’ve added more detailed information, enhanced our search, and added more cruise lines. We’ve also become a one-stop shop for all facets of cruise vacations; offering shore excursions, hotels, and flights all at discounted rates in one central place.
For travel agents, their time is money. We’ve put a great deal of work into making it easier for agents to find the cruise sailings they have a price advantage on, and on making the quoting process more and more efficient for them.
Q: What are the main reasons your website is flourishing?
A: I’d say there are two reasons. We continue to offer a better, faster, and more efficient way for consumers to shop around for cruises. Sure, people can go from site to site to shop for prices, but why do that when the agents can come to you? Because of the way our system is set up, agents know they’re competing and offer their best deals upfront. Over time, agents who can compete stick around and those who can’t tend to drift away, continually upgrading the quality of the offers.
The other key for us is we’ve been lucky enough to deal with great people. I especially credit folks working directly for us; the owners of several of our larger agencies; and the travel agents working for those agencies for pointing out areas to improve. A huge number of our customers have also made important suggestions and have taken to the time to tell their friends about us. Without these people we would not have had the success we’ve seen.
Q: You’ve recently introduced an automated Virtual Cruise Advisor; could you tell us why you developed it?
A: Planning a cruise can be intimidating, especially for new cruisers. CruiseCompete lists over 400 cruise ships sailing more than 10,500 different itineraries. We wanted a system that makes choosing a cruise as easy as CruiseCompete makes shopping around for the best deal on one.
Q: So how does it work?
A: It’s really very simple. A user just answers five basic questions, telling us when and where they want to cruise, and what type of vacation experience they’re looking for. The system then displays the recommended sailings that match those desires. The process is pretty transparent. We show the search criteria that the recommendations generated, so customers can make adjustments to what is displayed. From there, customers can access detailed information about the ships and lines recommended, and can request competing quotes on whatever sailings they prefer.
Recommended: Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: We’ve been very fortunate in that our core service–matching consumers with the travel agents who have the best deals for their specific cruise sailings–has worked very well for consumers and travel agents alike from the beginning. As a result, our focus will continue to be on incremental improvements to that core service. We are currently working on making Cruise Tours–vacations that incorporate adventures on land before or after a cruise sailing–easier to research and get quotes on. Beyond that, I expect that we’ll continue to listen to our customers and travel agent-members, and do our best to grow to meet their needs.
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