A cruise has more moving parts than most vacations. If, for example, you are hoping to take your family to Walt Disney (DIS) – Get Walt Disney Company Report World, the theme park does not move. This means that if your flight is delayed, that may be a stress, but it does not mean you will miss your vacation.
Disney also offers all kinds of packages as it controls not only its theme parks but also the hotels on the property. Mouse House makes booking packages – flights, hotels, theme park tickets, and everything you need – very easy.
Travel agents can do this for Royal Caribbean (RCL) – Get Royal Caribbean Group Report (Carnival (CCL) – Get Carnival Corporation Report and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) – Get Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd Report). But Royal Caribbean itself did not offer any packages. It has a flight booking service, Air2Sea, but it does not offer any way to book hotels.
This may seem like a small thing, but the various Facebook groups dedicated to Royal Caribbean – groups filled with frequent cruisers – contain an endless range of posts asking about where to stay near different ports.
It is not an easy question as some hotels close to the various cruise ports cater for cruise passengers by offering shuttles to the ports, car parking at low (or included) rates and later checkout for boarding times.
Now Royal Caribbean has launched a new service that solves this problem for cruise passengers.
Royal Caribbean knows its audience
While some cruise passengers live locally and can drive to ports, many fly and have to stay in hotels. Some even want to extend their stay in the port cities after their cruise is over. Booking to stay alone adds stress. This extra step when booking a vacation is a pain point.
Additionally, booking air travel and hotel trips on your own (or through a travel agent) will leave you vulnerable to problems.
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Air2Sea, for example, comes with guarantees about what happens if your flight causes you to miss your cruise. The cruise line will not stop the ship to wait for you, but it may find ways to get you to the nearest port or book you on another ship.
Adding hotels to that mix will easily give passengers more peace of mind along with the added comfort.
How does Royal Caribbean’s New Hotel Service work?
Royal Caribbean has partnered with Booking Holdings (BKNG) – Get Booking Holdings Inc. Report Priceline on Royal Caribbean Hotels. The movement offers “exclusive rates with thousands of hotels in every Royal Caribbean departure and arrival port, including those in the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific as well as North, South and Central America.”
The cruise line sometimes subsidizes airline tickets for customers booking through Air2Sea. It did not say whether it would do so with hotel rooms, but as a high-volume customer, it may sometimes offer fares lower than what passengers get when they book directly.
Royal Caribbean announced the new offer in a press release:
Adventure seekers who have booked a Royal Caribbean Cruise can arrange seamless hotel accommodation that is pre-filtered on the number of travelers in their group, the sailing departure or arrival city, and dates. Options can also be further personalized according to preferences, such as hotel rating, facilities and specific location in the city. Whether planning a long-awaited vacation or an impromptu getaway, Royal Caribbean Hotels minimizes travelers’ time to plan to maximize every moment of their memorable vacation.
It is important to note that Royal Caribbean can also essentially subsidize rooms during expensive travel periods.
The company generally gets premium rates for holiday cruises, for example, and it might make sense to make sure customers feel comfortable spending that money without even having to spend big on a place to stay the night before.
“Royal Caribbean Hotels is now available for vacationers staying in the US, Canada and Mexico, and their travel advisors,” the company added.
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