During a period of great – if unforeseen – innovation in the cruise sector as lines ready themselves for cruising post-Covid, an app-driven online travel agency is aiming to sail cruise retailing towards its own new horizons.
My Kind of Cruise aims to “swipe away” what its team brands the sector’s “legacy” approach to choosing a holiday at sea online with an app that helps cruisers research, choose and book a voyage – all within 90 seconds.
“I love Airbnb, Deliveroo, Uber – but we’ve not seen that type of approach being used for booking cruises,” says co-founder, tech consultant and cruise enthusiast Sefton Monk (above left).
“There hasn’t been an app out there to book a cruise in this way. You have to go to a website, do a lot of manual research, write things down. We thought, ‘there must be an easier way’."
Having cruised since childhood, and with more than 10 years’ experience working with brands like Sky Store, Now TV and Discovery Channel, Monk took his idea into development last spring.
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Joining him and fellow co-founders Duncan Millar and Craig Smith last summer was David Rowlinson (above right), who had been furloughed in his role as head of digital content and TV for Cruise1st.
“Once I bought into the idea and saw the proof of concept, it reignited the flame inside me for cruising,” says Rowlinson. “I could book a cruise in probably 90 seconds which, on a traditional website, would take you about 40 minutes.”
Working remotely over the past year, the team of four set about building the app and brand.
“Before Duncan and Craig joined the team I set them a challenge of booking a cruise online in a week and they couldn’t do it,” recalls Monk.
“They had a list of about 50 issues – that was our starting point.” He says My Kind of Cruise would cater for both first-time and veteran cruisers wanting to streamline the booking process.
“We initially wanted this to?be for the new-to-cruise market, but as time went on we realised how much the whole market needs?it – what Airbnb did for holiday rentals, we?want to do for booking cruises.”
The app allows users to “instantly” search sailings based on their favourite lines or destinations and “learns” about the user, saving their preferences. They can swipe through different cabin types, ship facilities and excursion choices, while there are also sections on each destination and itinerary options.
They can also add fellow app users to their travelling group and create a profile hub to share cruise-related content. There is a customer service live chat function too.
The app, which will be free to download on iOS and Android, will be soft launched in August.
A member of the Travel Trust Association, My Kind of Cruise will earn commission on each booking made via the app and hold client money in a trust account.
So far, more than a dozen major cruise brands – including Royal Caribbean, P&O Cruises and Seabourn – have signed up. “They really liked it, so it gave us the confidence to say, ‘we’re on to something here’,” says Monk.
During a year of uncertainty and rewritten plans, My Kind of Cruise is aiming to enter the market at the right time.
As Rowlinson puts it: “Cruising is going to come back with a vengeance. We’re a new brand, and I don’t think there’s a better time to launch a new product like this.”
