About Cruise Critic
Cruise Critic is one of the leading cruise review sites with the world’s largest cruise community of over six million people. These are both first-time and seasoned cruisers who visit the company’s website each month to plan their next trip and connect with fellow travelers. Since its foundation in 1995, the company has earned the status of the most influential cruise site featuring over 650,000 cruise reviews, as well as itineraries, pricing, deals and recommendations from cruise experts. This can help readers choose the best ship and cruise and plan their trip most efficiently. On the forums, users can seek any kind of advice and insights into their future travel and talk with other cruisers.
On the website, you can find reviews of 700 cruise ships from over 120 cruise lines and 500 ports worldwide, with the information from both experts and actual travelers. The reviews cover all aspects of a cruise, so you can learn about cabins, meals, ambiance and more.
Cruise Critic Advantages for Clients
- The leading authority and market leader for consumer cruise information
- Reviews of 700 ships, 120 cruise lines and 500 ports worldwide
- Over 650,000 cruise reviews
- Information about itineraries, pricing, deals and expert tips
- Forums to chat with fellow cruisers and share experience
Cruise Critic Affiliate Program
With Cruise Critic, affiliates can earn $0.40 for each user’s click-out to a booking partner on desktop and tablet devices and $0.18 for a click-out on mobile devices. Cookie lifetime is 7 days. Сommission is not accrued if a user clicks on a Cruise Critic ad on another marketing channel like Google or Facebook within the 7-day referral window.
Advantages of the Cruise Critic Affiliate Program
- The commission is accrued for click-outs
- $0.40 for a click-out on desktop and tablet devices and $0.18 – on mobile devices
- 7-day cookie lifetime
How to Make Money With Cruise Critic
To help you efficiently promote Cruise Critic, we’ve gathered information about the Cruise Critic target audience, their booking patterns, as well as tips on how to promote cruises.
Booking Patterns and Popular Cruises
- The cruise season is all year-round
- The peak booking time is January-March
- The average check for cruises is $1,000-$2,000
- 30+days – the average booking window
- Currently, the most popular options include Caribbean cruises, as well as cruises to the UK and Greece
- If there’s availability, cruises can be booked in last-minute fashion
- Travel content and social media are the best traffic sources for cruise promotion.
- Popular cruise lines are Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity, Princess, Holland America and Carnival.
Target Audience
- 65+ years old
- A booking is usually for 2-4 people
- Certain cruise lines are also catered to families, so clients can take children with them
- 90% of bookings are made on desktop devices
- While the number of online bookings is increasing, reservations made by phone still account for the largest percentage of all sales.
- Clients are mostly interested in all-inclusive, exploration, and entertainment.
How to Create Content to Promote Cruise Critic
The aim of the content on your website, social networks or YouTube is to motivate the audience to learn more about cruises and send them to the Cruise Critic website for further information.
- Focus on provoking emotions when creating content for the cruise niche. Beautiful high-quality photos and videos will always spark the audience’s interest. For example, pictures of happy people on a ship at sunset or in a scenic landscape work fine.
- Consider things that a traveler strives towards when cruising, such as a beautiful landscape, entertainment on the cruise ship, calmness of the trip, a burst of energy, Internet detox.
- If you promote a particular cruise, it’s important to present the atmosphere of a trip for the target audience. For example, describe the itinerary in detail, share views they’ll see on their way, photos of cabins, etc. This will help create attractive images in the minds of potential clients.
- Create lists according to various criteria. For instance, the top 10 cruises for meditation, listening to live music or working remotely.
- Focus on people who have never been on a cruise before, but think about new ways of traveling. Show them that cruises are a fun way to spend a vacation.
- Tell more about Cruise Critic and explain what users can find on the website, how it can be useful to them.
Join the Cruise Critic affiliate program and start earning in the growing cruise niche.