SUNRISE, Fla. — There’s great news for cruise travelers departing from North American ports. www.GreatPorts.com has been re-launched under new owners in a completely updated format. The company was recently acquired by CruiseJungle Holdings, Inc. operators of consumer cruise web site www.CruiseJungle.com.
Not a transactional site or booking engine, GreatPorts.com is a resource for people who have already booked a cruise and need relevant information about their embarkation or disembarkation port. The site lists each port in a geographic grid pattern and features information vital to cruisers such as how close the pier is to the airport, parking rates, area hotels that may offer pre or post-cruise packages, nearest rental car drop points, banking and medical resources, parking rates and more.
According to CruiseJungle’s CEO, Joe Ewart, “GreatPorts.com takes many pieces of diverse data and distills it down to information specific to cruise passengers. While there are many fantastic web sites operated by visitors bureaus, port authorities and private businesses, we have taken this large amount of content and condensed it into information usable by cruise passengers. For example, a land-based visitor spending a week in Ft. Lauderdale needs information that is a lot different than a cruise passenger spending 8 hours or less prior to boarding their ship. Little things like the location of the nearest ATM or pharmacy take on a new meaning when you only have limited time. We set out considering the cruise passengers needs and designed the site accordingly.”
GreatPorts.com re-launched with all North American embarkation ports included. In late 2007, a Europe tab will be added and Caribbean ports will follow in early 2008. The site will undergo constant revision as new ports, features and components are added. Included in the site is the “Port Concierge”(SM) which allows visitors to submit specific questions to the research staff on line and receive and expedited response via e-mail.
A growing trend for cruise passengers is the booking of pre and post hotels in embark or debark ports encompassing stays of one to three nights. It is estimated that up to 25% of North American cruise passengers spend at least one night before or after their cruise in a local hotel. Escalating airline travel delays dictate that arriving the day before the cruise is not only smart but almost compulsory. A pre-cruise stay provides peace of mind that same-day air travelers don’t have. Many port area hotels have special pre and post cruise packages designed just for this purpose. Another added benefit of spending a couple of days before or after the cruise is the chance to turn one vacation into two. A few days in New Orleans, San Diego, Miami, or Vancouver can be a great start or end to the voyage. GreatPorts.com researches and showcases a variety of hotel choices in each port, ranging from budget to deluxe.
Cruise and travel agents as well as the general public can use to research ports of call and save time in arranging many small, but important pieces of the overall cruise vacation.
According to Ewart, “GreatPorts is a tremendous asset for the cruise industry and we will continue to find innovative ways to support cruise passengers as they enjoy the best vacation in the world.”
[tags]CruiseJungle Holdings Inc, CEO Joe Ewart, North American embarkation ports, GreatPorts cruise travel website[/tags]
