Cruises.com has unveiled Cruises.com Rewards, the cruise industry’s first points-based loyalty program, offering travelers the flexibility to earn and redeem points on any cruise booked through their platform. This loyalty program is unique as it enables cruisers to immediately redeem their points for onboard credit, cash back, merchandise, and more, enhancing the overall cruise experience.
Loyalty360 CEO, Mark Johnson, recently sat down with Rosemarie Reed, Senior Vice President of Marketing for cruises.com, who has played a pivotal role in the launch of Cruises.com Rewards. This episode of Brand Stories highlights various key factors in how to create a successful loyalty program and best practices to keeping customers engaged through the program.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to our Leaders in Customer Loyalty
series, the Brand StoriesEdition.
It's great to have you herewith us every Thursday and in
this episode we're going to bediscussing and focusing on brand
partnerships and customerloyalty programs.
Partnerships are a significantcomponent of a successful
customer loyalty program, yetmany brands struggle to align
their partnership strategies.
(00:24):
In the world of travel,creating a synergistic program
between travel companies such asairlines, car rentals and
hotels can be fraught withchallenges.
Otas online travel agents ofwhich there are plenty and on
which brands depend on due totheir significant market
presence often want to brandtheir own marketing efforts and
(00:46):
customer loyalty programs.
Meanwhile, the brandsthemselves may want to work more
closely with the customers,which can create some dissonance
.
This tension can lead tofriction with the OTAs.
Creating a truly synergisticpartnership and travel has been
a challenge Until now.
Cruisescom recently launched itsfirst customer loyalty program
(01:10):
and a key piece of the visionand early success of the program
is due to how they are workingwith the cruise lines in a way
that complements both Cruisescomand the cruise lines themselves
.
In this episode of our Leadersin Customer Loyalty Brand
Stories series, we're going tohear from Rosemarie Reed.
She's the Senior Vice Presidentof Marketing for Cruisescom,
(01:32):
she's going to walk us throughthe unique vision and approach
to their customer loyaltyprogram.
Rosemarie, thank you very muchfor taking the time to speak
with us today.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Doing great.
How are you Thank you foroffering this opportunity?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
For those who may not be familiar, can you give us a
short overview of Cruisescom,and can you also tell us a
little bit more about your rolewithin the organization?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Sure.
So Cruisescom is really yourgo-to for all of the best deals
for your cruises.
We also offer expert advice, soit's like this one-stop shop.
You can go to compare all thedifferent cruise options that
you may want to take for yourvacation, all in one place, and
then you get to see all theoffers and the exclusive deals
(02:15):
that we put on top of the valuewe provide.
If you chose to call, you'dspeak to one of our vacation
experts, who will guide youthrough the process and help you
make the best decision whenchoosing a cruise that's right
for you and your lifestyle andyour budget.
So my role with cruisescom?
I oversee e-commerce andmarketing for the brand, as well
(02:39):
as some other brands within ourportfolio.
I started out my career at theWalt Disney Company many, many
years ago I won't say how many,because that'll reveal my age
and so I think from the verybeginning of my career, I
learned what it meant to providea quality experience for
customers, and that is what Ithink the foundation of loyalty
(03:02):
is built on is the experienceyou provide.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
What inspired Cruisescom to launch a
points-based rewards program andhow does it differentiate from
other loyalty programs in thecruise and travel industries?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Great question.
So it really came about becausewe wanted to deepen our
relationship with our customers,so it wasn't just to stand up a
loyalty program.
To us, this is much more thanthat.
This is a way to engage withcustomers and be able to
communicate with them outside ofjust the booking process.
It's, of course, meant to driveloyalty and have them come back
(03:37):
to us because they've had sucha great experience, but you'll
notice that we've built featuresas part of the rewards program
that are unlike anothertraditional loyalty program.
What's great about it is, if youare a cruiser or you've cruised
before, you can still earnstatus when you book with us at
the cruise line.
So you're still going to earntowards your loyalty benefits by
(04:00):
booking with us and you'regetting our rewards on top of it
by booking with us and you'regetting our rewards on top of it
.
So I would say it's acompliment to what you typically
would get, which is differentthan if you booked with another
online travel agency or anaggregator I don't want to name
them, but those sites that youcan go to and see all the hotels
in one place or flights all inone place you may not receive
(04:24):
the benefits or the status, theymight not recognize that
transaction.
If you are, you know a specificstatus with an airline or a
hotelier because you bookedthrough a third party, whereas
with us, our cruise lines, areour partners and you will get
full recognition for that, forthat transaction cruising is a
unique travel experience, as youknow, with a longer planning
(04:45):
cycle compared to othervacations.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
How does your loyalty program keep customers engaged
between bookings?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So I would say that Shift happens right, like
there's different shifts thathappen for different reasons
throughout consumer behaviorsthat change, and what we saw
during the pandemic, during thepause, was everybody had to go
online to book everything or tobuy anything.
So you're buying toilet paperthrough Instacart and having
that delivered I mean prettymuch everybody had to go.
(05:14):
Even if you wanted to buy awashing machine or a television,
you were going online to browseoptions versus walking into a
retail location, which is whatpeople were traditionally used
to.
And so we recognize that, withthat change in behavior, we
wanted to find a way to keepcustomers engaged, not just with
(05:34):
us in between bookings, but ingeneral, because they find value
in what we bring to them and intheir everyday lives.
So we've added all kinds offeatures within our rewards
program that are not related tojust booking with us.
It is, you know, tips andadvice that we offer to you.
We bring exclusive content,whether that be interviews with
(05:57):
cruise line executives or withonboard staff, to give you a
behind-the-scenes look at things.
So there's a lot of informationand tips and a community that
we've started to build withinthe rewards program outside of
just transactions.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
The travel and hospitality industry, as you
know, has seen some pretty majorshifts with regard to customer
expectations post-pandemic majorshifts with regard to customer
expectations post-pandemic.
What trends have you noticed incruiser preferences and how
does your customer loyaltyprogram work to address some of
these?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So one of the biggest shifts and it's probably not
necessarily unique to the cruiseindustry.
I would say that it's probablyeverywhere Consumers have higher
expectations of how youcommunicate with them and the
experience you provide.
They really want a personalizedor tailored experience.
They don't want all the noiseand they're expecting everything
to be frictionless.
(06:47):
Right.
That's their expectation.
They're higher than they werebefore, and so if you create a
digital product and you put thatin front of your customers, it
should be a great experience forthem, or you lose them right
away.
So you've got to gain theirattention and then keep it by
providing a frictionlessexperience, and I think cruise
lines have done a great jobdoing that.
(07:07):
They've recognized that thatbehavior is there now, and so
we've really leaned intopersonalization and trying to
make sure that we know who ourcustomers are.
To do that, we needed more data, and this rewards program has
helped us get there.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Personalization is a topic that's very significant to
those in customer loyalty,especially the members of
Loyalty360.
It's a topic we discuss quiteoften.
When you look atpersonalization, how does
Cruisescom use the insight andthe technology they have to
offer more personalized andrelevant rewards and experiences
to your customers?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So great question.
I'll give you a practicalexample of how we do that.
So we introduced a featurecalled a watch list.
So as you're browsing, you'reshopping for different cruise
options on our website, you'reable to add a cruise to your
watch list and then we notifyyou when that cruise goes on
sale.
So it's really a way to say,like, okay, I really love this
(08:06):
shirt or this outfit, but Idon't want to pay, you know, a
hundred dollars for it.
So when it goes on sale, I'llbuy it.
Well, we're now notifying youproactively to say, okay, this
cruise now has gone on sale orthere's an extra amenity, now is
the time to book it.
So we are providing that expertadvice that we typically do
offline now as part of theoverall digital experience, and
(08:28):
what it has allowed us to do isthat customer has raised their
hand and said this is theproduct I'm interested in.
So instead of building somesophisticated rules engine,
we've literally just asked thecustomer what cruiser are you
interested in?
And then sometimes we'll evencreate incentives for them based
on what they're interested in.
So I think that'spersonalization at its finest,
(08:48):
and it's also very simple.
It's not something thatrequires a lot of sophistication
.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
There are also going to be some challenges with
regard to leveraging technologyand being able to offer
personalized experiences.
So, when you look at the kindof the challenge, how do you
balance the customer demand forpersonalized experiences with
the need to scale your programbut also leverage different
technologies?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So I think that, overall, customers want
personalization, but they wanteverything to be flexible.
So flexibility is key andinstead of it just being simply
a rigid loyalty program, that'spoints-based right.
You earn points after youtravel and then you're able to
use those points for a discountlater on.
(09:33):
There's two things that wefocused on when we approached
this.
One was flexibility and whatthey can redeem points for, so
not only for discounts, but alsofor additional amenities,
on-board credit, a cash backrebate.
We even have merchandise.
You can go in and purchasepretty much anything.
You can buy furniture for yourhome if you wanted to, with the
(09:55):
points that you earn by bookingwith us.
So we have put in a ton ofrewards.
We're now adding also Ubercredits, so you can just redeem
your points for an Uber ride ifyou wanted to.
We know that the key here ispeople are not going to take a
cruise so often, and so how dowe build in this flexibility to
say you can use your points foralmost anything?
(10:15):
So, you earn them with us, butyou have that flexibility.
And then, two, I would just saythat With us, when you earn
points, you can use them towardsany cruise line.
You're earning them on anycruise line, or as you go direct
to the cruise line, you onlyare able to earn or be
recognized for the transactionsyou make with that one cruise
(10:36):
line.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
As you know, the travel space is very competitive
, especially in this era of alittle bit of economic
uncertainty.
A little bit of economicuncertainty Airlines, hotels and
cruise lines all vying fortravel loyalty and a share of
that fixed quote-unquote pie.
How do you see your customerloyalty program competing and
(10:57):
coexisting with other travelreward programs?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So fantastic question .
I am a loyal customer of theairlines and the hoteliers
myself, so I would say that withour program, if you're going to
take I'm going to use anexample if you're going to take
a cruise throughout the GreekIsles, it's a Europe cruise you
have to fly there right to getto your departure port and fly
(11:20):
home.
A lot of people fly in the daybefore because they don't want
to miss the boat, if you will,so they stay at a hotel, and so
to me, I feel like those loyaltyprograms can coexist and you
can still earn points for thehotel stay prior to your cruise
or for the flight that you'regoing to take to get to your
cruise, and it doesn't take awayfrom.
(11:41):
I don't think people arechoosing whether they take a
flight or a cruise.
I think it additive.
So that's one part, and then Imentioned working cooperatively
with the cruise lines.
You earn in both sides.
You earn towards your loyaltystatus with the cruise line and
with us, um, and so for me Ithink that's a win-win um.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Best example yeah, at the 2024 Loyalty Expo,
partnerships were a significanttopic.
Brands are facing thechallenges of creating a more
personalized and relevantpartnership for their customers
and their partners' customers.
But aligning that between oneor more brands can create some
challenges, making sure thatboth are on brand mission, that
(12:22):
customers see value in thepartnership.
This process is taking longeras these partnerships, as you
know, need customers see valuein the partnership.
This process is taking longeras these partnerships, as you
know, need to be carefullyassessed and developed.
How is your brand addressingthe challenge or the opportunity
regarding partnerships?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think the future is definitely partnerships through
loyalty programs.
So I can understand why that'sa challenge and a topic of
discussion.
We are still, as I mentioned,in the infancy, but we know that
that is the future.
We recognize it.
So we're leaning into trying toidentify partners where they
(12:58):
may have a loyalty program andthey earn points that are
outside of travel and it'sunrelated to travel, but they
can use those points for avacation, and I think that
that's going to be our key tosuccess.
We don't want to compete withhotels or other travel entities
for vacation dollars.
We want to be able to be thepartner of choice for other
(13:21):
industries and for theircustomers to redeem points for a
cruise vacation.
Other industries and for theircustomers to redeem points for a
cruise vacation.
So we're actually taking thatroute.
I know traditionally it's likeyou can use Chase Points and you
can transfer them to anotherpartner, like a Marriott, and
you sometimes can get a bonusfor that.
We're not heading down thatpath.
We're actually looking outsideof the travel space to find
(13:43):
partnerships.
The biggest challenge I wouldsay is this is an alternate
currency, as you've mentionedbefore, and so it's that
conversion and making sure thatit does work financially for
both parties that are involvedor for all parties involved.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Looking ahead, what innovations or additions do you
see for Cruisescom to theirloyalty program, to your loyalty
program.
Are there plans to roll out newearning opportunities,
partnerships or maybe eventechnology integrations?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I think the biggest thing is listening to customers,
taking their feedback and thendesigning based on what they
want, not what we think is best.
I think we all tend to do thatwith everything.
It's like we think we knowwhere we have a lot of data that
can help us directionally, butultimately you've got to listen
to the customer and what they'retelling you.
So we have added a lot offeedback loops within the
(14:38):
rewards program to get regularfeedback from customers to find
out what they want.
So that's one.
Two is we are exploringreducing the time it takes for
customers to find out what theywant.
So that's one.
Two is we are exploringreducing the time it takes for
customers to transact with usand we have put specific
measures against that to knowwhether that's actually
increasing loyalty, becausewe've enhanced the experience
(15:00):
and made it much easier forcustomers to do business with us
.
We'll still look atpartnerships but because it's
still new, we're trying tocontinue to evolve and build on
what we've created so far.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
When you look at your program, what are two or three
things you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Oh gosh, I feel like it's a cruise industry first, or
I should say not necessarilycruise industry first I can be
that bold but it definitely is,on the OTA side, the first ever
points-based loyalty program inthe cruise space.
So I know there's otheraggregators or OTAs that have
(15:35):
loyalty programs but they don'tsupport cruise necessarily.
This is a cruise only loyaltyprogram and we've really leaned
into that.
We know who our customer is andwe want to reward them for
their choice to do business withus.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And now it's time for our wonderful quick fire round.
We'd like to keep these to aone word or a short phrase
response.
What word or short phrase doyou use to inspire others?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Chase progress, not perfection.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
What is your least favorite word that others use?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Overcomplicate.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
What excites you at work Getting to travel and what
do you find tiresome at work orat home?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Meetings.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Is there a book that you've read or you like to read
that you also recommend tocolleagues due to its relevance?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yes, I'm reading one now Leader's Leap by Steve
Dennis.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
What profession other than the one that you're
currently in would you maybelike to try?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Running my own company.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
What do you enjoy doing that you often don't get
the time to do?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Go to the gym or go for a run.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And who inspired you to become the person you are
today.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
One of my bosses.
She is an inspiring leader formany reasons, but she really
taught me to believe in myselfbecause others saw something
that I wasn't seeing.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And last question how do you want to be remembered by
your friends and family?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Well, number one is a great mom, and then I would say
probably somebody who's gotgreat one-liners and moves with
boldness.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Rosemary, thank you very much for taking the time to
speak with the state.
It was great to hear about theprogram, very interesting
partnership approach and howyou're working symbiotically
with your brand partners.
We look forward to learningmore from cruisescom through the
remainder of 2025.
We truly appreciate it and thepassion you have for the program
and your customer definitelyresonated.
(17:24):
So that was great to hear.
So thank you very much andcontinue your success.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Thank you, mark, appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Also want to thank everyone else for taking the
time to listen today.
Be sure to check back everyThursday for additional episodes
of our Leaders in CustomerLoyalty Brand Stories Edition,
and please subscribe to ourYouTube channel and listen to
our podcast on your preferredpodcast provider.
Until next Thursday, have awonderful day.
Welcome back to our Leaders in Customer Loyalty
series, the Brand StoriesEdition.
It's great to have you herewith us every Thursday and in
this episode we're going to bediscussing and focusing on brand
partnerships and customerloyalty programs.
Partnerships are a significantcomponent of a successful
customer loyalty program, yetmany brands struggle to align
their partnership strategies.
(00:24):
In the world of travel,creating a synergistic program
between travel companies such asairlines, car rentals and
hotels can be fraught withchallenges.
Otas online travel agents ofwhich there are plenty and on
which brands depend on due totheir significant market
presence often want to brandtheir own marketing efforts and
(00:46):
customer loyalty programs.
Meanwhile, the brandsthemselves may want to work more
closely with the customers,which can create some dissonance
.
This tension can lead tofriction with the OTAs.
Creating a truly synergisticpartnership and travel has been
a challenge Until now.
Cruisescom recently launched itsfirst customer loyalty program
(01:10):
and a key piece of the visionand early success of the program
is due to how they are workingwith the cruise lines in a way
that complements both Cruisescomand the cruise lines themselves
.
In this episode of our Leadersin Customer Loyalty Brand
Stories series, we're going tohear from Rosemarie Reed.
She's the Senior Vice Presidentof Marketing for Cruisescom,
(01:32):
she's going to walk us throughthe unique vision and approach
to their customer loyaltyprogram.
Rosemarie, thank you very muchfor taking the time to speak
with us today.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Doing great.
How are you Thank you foroffering this opportunity?
Speaker 1 (01:45):
For those who may not be familiar, can you give us a
short overview of Cruisescom,and can you also tell us a
little bit more about your rolewithin the organization?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Sure.
So Cruisescom is really yourgo-to for all of the best deals
for your cruises.
We also offer expert advice, soit's like this one-stop shop.
You can go to compare all thedifferent cruise options that
you may want to take for yourvacation, all in one place, and
then you get to see all theoffers and the exclusive deals
(02:15):
that we put on top of the valuewe provide.
If you chose to call, you'dspeak to one of our vacation
experts, who will guide youthrough the process and help you
make the best decision whenchoosing a cruise that's right
for you and your lifestyle andyour budget.
So my role with cruisescom?
I oversee e-commerce andmarketing for the brand, as well
(02:39):
as some other brands within ourportfolio.
I started out my career at theWalt Disney Company many, many
years ago I won't say how many,because that'll reveal my age
and so I think from the verybeginning of my career, I
learned what it meant to providea quality experience for
customers, and that is what Ithink the foundation of loyalty
(03:02):
is built on is the experienceyou provide.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
What inspired Cruisescom to launch a
points-based rewards program andhow does it differentiate from
other loyalty programs in thecruise and travel industries?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Great question.
So it really came about becausewe wanted to deepen our
relationship with our customers,so it wasn't just to stand up a
loyalty program.
To us, this is much more thanthat.
This is a way to engage withcustomers and be able to
communicate with them outside ofjust the booking process.
It's, of course, meant to driveloyalty and have them come back
(03:37):
to us because they've had sucha great experience, but you'll
notice that we've built featuresas part of the rewards program
that are unlike anothertraditional loyalty program.
What's great about it is, if youare a cruiser or you've cruised
before, you can still earnstatus when you book with us at
the cruise line.
So you're still going to earntowards your loyalty benefits by
(04:00):
booking with us and you'regetting our rewards on top of it
by booking with us and you'regetting our rewards on top of it
.
So I would say it's acompliment to what you typically
would get, which is differentthan if you booked with another
online travel agency or anaggregator I don't want to name
them, but those sites that youcan go to and see all the hotels
in one place or flights all inone place you may not receive
(04:24):
the benefits or the status, theymight not recognize that
transaction.
If you are, you know a specificstatus with an airline or a
hotelier because you bookedthrough a third party, whereas
with us, our cruise lines, areour partners and you will get
full recognition for that, forthat transaction cruising is a
unique travel experience, as youknow, with a longer planning
(04:45):
cycle compared to othervacations.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
How does your loyalty program keep customers engaged
between bookings?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So I would say that Shift happens right, like
there's different shifts thathappen for different reasons
throughout consumer behaviorsthat change, and what we saw
during the pandemic, during thepause, was everybody had to go
online to book everything or tobuy anything.
So you're buying toilet paperthrough Instacart and having
that delivered I mean prettymuch everybody had to go.
(05:14):
Even if you wanted to buy awashing machine or a television,
you were going online to browseoptions versus walking into a
retail location, which is whatpeople were traditionally used
to.
And so we recognize that, withthat change in behavior, we
wanted to find a way to keepcustomers engaged, not just with
(05:34):
us in between bookings, but ingeneral, because they find value
in what we bring to them and intheir everyday lives.
So we've added all kinds offeatures within our rewards
program that are not related tojust booking with us.
It is, you know, tips andadvice that we offer to you.
We bring exclusive content,whether that be interviews with
(05:57):
cruise line executives or withonboard staff, to give you a
behind-the-scenes look at things.
So there's a lot of informationand tips and a community that
we've started to build withinthe rewards program outside of
just transactions.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
The travel and hospitality industry, as you
know, has seen some pretty majorshifts with regard to customer
expectations post-pandemic majorshifts with regard to customer
expectations post-pandemic.
What trends have you noticed incruiser preferences and how
does your customer loyaltyprogram work to address some of
these?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So one of the biggest shifts and it's probably not
necessarily unique to the cruiseindustry.
I would say that it's probablyeverywhere Consumers have higher
expectations of how youcommunicate with them and the
experience you provide.
They really want a personalizedor tailored experience.
They don't want all the noiseand they're expecting everything
to be frictionless.
(06:47):
Right.
That's their expectation.
They're higher than they werebefore, and so if you create a
digital product and you put thatin front of your customers, it
should be a great experience forthem, or you lose them right
away.
So you've got to gain theirattention and then keep it by
providing a frictionlessexperience, and I think cruise
lines have done a great jobdoing that.
(07:07):
They've recognized that thatbehavior is there now, and so
we've really leaned intopersonalization and trying to
make sure that we know who ourcustomers are.
To do that, we needed more data, and this rewards program has
helped us get there.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Personalization is a topic that's very significant to
those in customer loyalty,especially the members of
Loyalty360.
It's a topic we discuss quiteoften.
When you look atpersonalization, how does
Cruisescom use the insight andthe technology they have to
offer more personalized andrelevant rewards and experiences
to your customers?
Speaker 2 (07:42):
So great question.
I'll give you a practicalexample of how we do that.
So we introduced a featurecalled a watch list.
So as you're browsing, you'reshopping for different cruise
options on our website, you'reable to add a cruise to your
watch list and then we notifyyou when that cruise goes on
sale.
So it's really a way to say,like, okay, I really love this
(08:06):
shirt or this outfit, but Idon't want to pay, you know, a
hundred dollars for it.
So when it goes on sale, I'llbuy it.
Well, we're now notifying youproactively to say, okay, this
cruise now has gone on sale orthere's an extra amenity, now is
the time to book it.
So we are providing that expertadvice that we typically do
offline now as part of theoverall digital experience, and
(08:28):
what it has allowed us to do isthat customer has raised their
hand and said this is theproduct I'm interested in.
So instead of building somesophisticated rules engine,
we've literally just asked thecustomer what cruiser are you
interested in?
And then sometimes we'll evencreate incentives for them based
on what they're interested in.
So I think that'spersonalization at its finest,
(08:48):
and it's also very simple.
It's not something thatrequires a lot of sophistication
.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
There are also going to be some challenges with
regard to leveraging technologyand being able to offer
personalized experiences.
So, when you look at the kindof the challenge, how do you
balance the customer demand forpersonalized experiences with
the need to scale your programbut also leverage different
technologies?
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So I think that, overall, customers want
personalization, but they wanteverything to be flexible.
So flexibility is key andinstead of it just being simply
a rigid loyalty program, that'spoints-based right.
You earn points after youtravel and then you're able to
use those points for a discountlater on.
(09:33):
There's two things that wefocused on when we approached
this.
One was flexibility and whatthey can redeem points for, so
not only for discounts, but alsofor additional amenities,
on-board credit, a cash backrebate.
We even have merchandise.
You can go in and purchasepretty much anything.
You can buy furniture for yourhome if you wanted to, with the
(09:55):
points that you earn by bookingwith us.
So we have put in a ton ofrewards.
We're now adding also Ubercredits, so you can just redeem
your points for an Uber ride ifyou wanted to.
We know that the key here ispeople are not going to take a
cruise so often, and so how dowe build in this flexibility to
say you can use your points foralmost anything?
(10:15):
So, you earn them with us, butyou have that flexibility.
And then, two, I would just saythat With us, when you earn
points, you can use them towardsany cruise line.
You're earning them on anycruise line, or as you go direct
to the cruise line, you onlyare able to earn or be
recognized for the transactionsyou make with that one cruise
(10:36):
line.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
As you know, the travel space is very competitive
, especially in this era of alittle bit of economic
uncertainty.
A little bit of economicuncertainty Airlines, hotels and
cruise lines all vying fortravel loyalty and a share of
that fixed quote-unquote pie.
How do you see your customerloyalty program competing and
(10:57):
coexisting with other travelreward programs?
Speaker 2 (11:00):
So fantastic question .
I am a loyal customer of theairlines and the hoteliers
myself, so I would say that withour program, if you're going to
take I'm going to use anexample if you're going to take
a cruise throughout the GreekIsles, it's a Europe cruise you
have to fly there right to getto your departure port and fly
(11:20):
home.
A lot of people fly in the daybefore because they don't want
to miss the boat, if you will,so they stay at a hotel, and so
to me, I feel like those loyaltyprograms can coexist and you
can still earn points for thehotel stay prior to your cruise
or for the flight that you'regoing to take to get to your
cruise, and it doesn't take awayfrom.
(11:41):
I don't think people arechoosing whether they take a
flight or a cruise.
I think it additive.
So that's one part, and then Imentioned working cooperatively
with the cruise lines.
You earn in both sides.
You earn towards your loyaltystatus with the cruise line and
with us, um, and so for me Ithink that's a win-win um.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Best example yeah, at the 2024 Loyalty Expo,
partnerships were a significanttopic.
Brands are facing thechallenges of creating a more
personalized and relevantpartnership for their customers
and their partners' customers.
But aligning that between oneor more brands can create some
challenges, making sure thatboth are on brand mission, that
(12:22):
customers see value in thepartnership.
This process is taking longeras these partnerships, as you
know, need customers see valuein the partnership.
This process is taking longeras these partnerships, as you
know, need to be carefullyassessed and developed.
How is your brand addressingthe challenge or the opportunity
regarding partnerships?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I think the future is definitely partnerships through
loyalty programs.
So I can understand why that'sa challenge and a topic of
discussion.
We are still, as I mentioned,in the infancy, but we know that
that is the future.
We recognize it.
So we're leaning into trying toidentify partners where they
(12:58):
may have a loyalty program andthey earn points that are
outside of travel and it'sunrelated to travel, but they
can use those points for avacation, and I think that
that's going to be our key tosuccess.
We don't want to compete withhotels or other travel entities
for vacation dollars.
We want to be able to be thepartner of choice for other
(13:21):
industries and for theircustomers to redeem points for a
cruise vacation.
Other industries and for theircustomers to redeem points for a
cruise vacation.
So we're actually taking thatroute.
I know traditionally it's likeyou can use Chase Points and you
can transfer them to anotherpartner, like a Marriott, and
you sometimes can get a bonusfor that.
We're not heading down thatpath.
We're actually looking outsideof the travel space to find
(13:43):
partnerships.
The biggest challenge I wouldsay is this is an alternate
currency, as you've mentionedbefore, and so it's that
conversion and making sure thatit does work financially for
both parties that are involvedor for all parties involved.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Looking ahead, what innovations or additions do you
see for Cruisescom to theirloyalty program, to your loyalty
program.
Are there plans to roll out newearning opportunities,
partnerships or maybe eventechnology integrations?
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I think the biggest thing is listening to customers,
taking their feedback and thendesigning based on what they
want, not what we think is best.
I think we all tend to do thatwith everything.
It's like we think we knowwhere we have a lot of data that
can help us directionally, butultimately you've got to listen
to the customer and what they'retelling you.
So we have added a lot offeedback loops within the
(14:38):
rewards program to get regularfeedback from customers to find
out what they want.
So that's one.
Two is we are exploringreducing the time it takes for
customers to find out what theywant.
So that's one.
Two is we are exploringreducing the time it takes for
customers to transact with usand we have put specific
measures against that to knowwhether that's actually
increasing loyalty, becausewe've enhanced the experience
(15:00):
and made it much easier forcustomers to do business with us
.
We'll still look atpartnerships but because it's
still new, we're trying tocontinue to evolve and build on
what we've created so far.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
When you look at your program, what are two or three
things you're most proud of?
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Oh gosh, I feel like it's a cruise industry first, or
I should say not necessarilycruise industry first I can be
that bold but it definitely is,on the OTA side, the first ever
points-based loyalty program inthe cruise space.
So I know there's otheraggregators or OTAs that have
(15:35):
loyalty programs but they don'tsupport cruise necessarily.
This is a cruise only loyaltyprogram and we've really leaned
into that.
We know who our customer is andwe want to reward them for
their choice to do business withus.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And now it's time for our wonderful quick fire round.
We'd like to keep these to aone word or a short phrase
response.
What word or short phrase doyou use to inspire others?
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Chase progress, not perfection.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
What is your least favorite word that others use?
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Overcomplicate.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
What excites you at work Getting to travel and what
do you find tiresome at work orat home?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Meetings.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Is there a book that you've read or you like to read
that you also recommend tocolleagues due to its relevance?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yes, I'm reading one now Leader's Leap by Steve
Dennis.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
What profession other than the one that you're
currently in would you maybelike to try?
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Running my own company.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
What do you enjoy doing that you often don't get
the time to do?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Go to the gym or go for a run.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
And who inspired you to become the person you are
today.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
One of my bosses.
She is an inspiring leader formany reasons, but she really
taught me to believe in myselfbecause others saw something
that I wasn't seeing.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And last question how do you want to be remembered by
your friends and family?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Well, number one is a great mom, and then I would say
probably somebody who's gotgreat one-liners and moves with
boldness.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Rosemary, thank you very much for taking the time to
speak with the state.
It was great to hear about theprogram, very interesting
partnership approach and howyou're working symbiotically
with your brand partners.
We look forward to learningmore from cruisescom through the
remainder of 2025.
We truly appreciate it and thepassion you have for the program
and your customer definitelyresonated.
(17:24):
So that was great to hear.
So thank you very much andcontinue your success.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Thank you, mark, appreciate the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Also want to thank everyone else for taking the
time to listen today.
Be sure to check back everyThursday for additional episodes
of our Leaders in CustomerLoyalty Brand Stories Edition,
and please subscribe to ourYouTube channel and listen to
our podcast on your preferredpodcast provider.
Until next Thursday, have awonderful day.
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