Rewards for cruise reviews

Online cruise community Cruise.co.uk has announced a member recruitment campaign aimed at reaffirming its position as the number one site for cruise reviews in the UK – the first initiative is a £250,000 promotion in association with leading travel book publisher Berlitz.

As part of the campaign, Cruise.co.uk has purchased 10,000 copies of the latest ‘Cruising & Cruise Ships 2008’ guide, and is giving away a free book to anyone posting a cruise review on its website.

Already the leading online cruise community in the UK, the site boasts 2,500 reviews, 3,000 comments on the reviews, 2,500 questions and 9,000 answers from users of the site.

Cruise.co.uk is aiming to more than double the level of user-generated content by increasing online customer reviews and comments, which currently number around 8,500.

Seamus Conlon, MD of Cruise.co.uk, said: “This first initiative is a real win-win for all parties. The free Berlitz Cruise Guides are a fantastic incentive to encourage both new reviews from existing users and new reviewers, both of which will increase the amount of information and content for users to read before making any cruise purchases.

“Unlike normal package holidays, where people have been going to the same places for numerous years, cruising is still a great unknown for a large percentage of our potential market, both in terms of destinations and ships.

“They may not have friends or colleagues who have cruised, so they do not have a reference point – someone who can give their personal recommendation.

“This is why a real and most importantly an unedited past passenger cruise review is so important in the decision making process of potential cruisers, both regular and new.

“It is well documented that the demand in the UK for cruise holidays is fast-expanding and, although we are the number one website, we want to ensure we are the most innovative, too. We will be unveiling more news in the coming months.”

The 10,000 free Berlitz Cruise Guides contain over 280 cruise reviews by The Maritime Evaluations Group and rates all cruise ships over six categories: Ship, Accommodation, Food, Service, Entertainment, Cruise.

This 700 page book, ‘Cruising & Cruise Ships 2008’, is the bible of cruising, and is in its 23rd year of publication, retailing at £16.99. It is written by Douglas Ward (President, Maritime Evaluations Group) who, with 960 cruises to his name, is widely regarded as the world’s leading authority on cruising.

Cruise.co.uk also includes an online version of the book which is free for everyone to view; this complements the reviews posted by the real past passengers. The site also allows users to comment and ask future questions on all reviews.

In order to qualify for a free book, a review must be of a cruise taken within the last two years, more than 200 words in length and must not have been published before elsewhere.

For more information on how to collect a free guide, visit Cruise.co.uk.