Best way to find a cruise?

Do you think there could be a better way to shop for cruises?

if I want to buy a purse, I can go to any online store, specify the type, size, color, designer, etc, and see relevant options. But if I want to find a cruise for a family with 3 kids, with a kid program that will allow all of my kids to participate together, on a ship that has in-room childcare and wine-tasting classes, I'll have to do a large amount of research on my own.

If anything was possible, how would it work?

Talk to a travel agent. They may be best to help out for first timers

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Depending on the age of the kids, that probably won’t happen. If they are triplets, yeah. I would say you have some very specific requirements that might just require a little more work/research. Sorry.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :D

You would find a Travel Agent to be very helpful to you!

Thank you for your replies!!

To clarify, I am not looking for a cruise for myself... I described the situation as an example.

I am a product designer, and I working on designing an interface that would help customers or travel agents make better decisions about which cruise to take.

I want to understand if this is something that cruisers and agents would find valuable, or if the tools that already exist are sufficient and no new tools are needed.

The cruise industry is continuously evolving, with multiple new ships every year and even new cruise companies every few years. At this time, travel agent specialising in the cruise industry provide the type of service you propose.

Another consideration is that passenger preferences change over time, both as they age and develop different expectations of a cruise.

Basically, if you were able to develop such a tool, it would be quickly out of date without continuous upgrades.

Do you think there could be a better way to shop for cruises?

if I want to buy a purse, I can go to any online store, specify the type, size, color, designer, etc, and see relevant options. But if I want to find a cruise for a family with 3 kids, with a kid program that will allow all of my kids to participate together, on a ship that has in-room childcare and wine-tasting classes, I'll have to do a large amount of research on my own.

If anything was possible, how would it work?

If this was 1995 ,prior to the internet you would go to a Travel Agency .I still go to get info .

Thank you for your replies!!

 

To clarify, I am not looking for a cruise for myself... I described the situation as an example.

 

I am a product designer, and I working on designing an interface that would help customers or travel agents make better decisions about which cruise to take.

 

I want to understand if this is something that cruisers and agents would find valuable, or if the tools that already exist are sufficient and no new tools are needed.

Long ago and far far away I headed up a group that dealt with this general class of problems: designing systems (interfaces) that would help users make decisions when faced with multiple options which varied across many dimensions, all of which had varying relevance to the user. In your case, e.g. whether or not there is child care is irrelevant to me.

A couple of ways to attack the problem. First, IF you can find 10-20 experienced highly effective travel agents who are willing to be monitored, then track those agents. Find what questions they ask first-time and long-time cruisers in order to narrow the search space. Track those customers. Find whether they were pleased with the advice and with the choice. Find 100-500 new cruisers and an equivalent number of slightly, moderately, and extremely experienced cruisers. Interview them to find what pleased and displeased them about their inaugural cruise. (No leading questions!) All of this should give you a place to start.

Second, as an alternative, you could download the reviews and comments from Cruise Critic. Do a text analysis, see what is emphasized, see if/how that varies according to whether the cruisers are newbies or old salts.

Using either or both approaches, you are then ready to categorize every itinerary on every ship on every cruise line, using the dimensions you pulled from your preliminary work. Then start testing some match-making techniques.

Do note that what people say is important to them up front may not be what makes a difference after all. I thought the number of exotic ports was very important, I found that the number of sea days and the balance and rhythm of port days and sea days made much more difference in my enjoyment. [Good luck with finding metrics and a process to characterize the sea day vs. shore day rhythm and balance!] On a related issue, even experienced travel agents will likely work from conventional wisdom and tend to steer customers to what "most people" will enjoy. Also note that "enjoyment" is only one outcome. Different cruisers will have a different balance among outcomes like affordability, general enjoyment, for quality, staff affability, etc. etc. I've been on a quickie cruise that I thought would be ok given the new-to-me ports of call. In retrospect, the ports didn't matter, but it was one of my best ever because the staff/crew were so good.

So, complex dimensionality among the choices with strong individual preferences for which variables even matter. Complex dimensionality among the potential outcomes with, again, strong individual preferences for which variables even matter. And a given individual's notions of importance may vary before, within, and after a given cruise, to say nothing of changes over time as experience is gained. And oh by the way, many cruisers travel as couples and so now you need to try and balance the preferences of two persons with possibly very different expectations. A tough problem. I hope you are paid well.

Stan

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Glad you came back and explained that this isn't for yourself but a idea of wanting to set up a guide to help people with many cruise questions.

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A couple of ways to attack the problem....

 

Stan, thank you SO MUCH for your detailed answer!

I am adding it to my "to do" list.

And btw I am not getting paid to do this - it is my personal project. I like a challenge :)