Royal IQ; How Royal Caribbean is Trying To Be the Best at Sea

Being able to create something customers want to engage with and something that catches their attention when they’re scrolling their news feeds daily is a struggle many companies are dealing with now that social media has taken over. Vacations and travel are no different, every company, resort, cruise ship wants you to pick them for your next holiday and how they approach their marketing and engaging customers could make or break their chance at earning your business.

“Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. comprises six distinctive companies that share a vision anchored in excellence.” They operate in 47 countries with 50+ ships ranging with staterooms to fit 2500-7000 guests at a time. “We believe we are in the business of making tremendous memories” Michael Giresi, Chief Information Officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises. To make sure you are successful in making memories and meeting all the expectations of an amazing vacation you need to have exceptional customer experience, relationships and engagement not only during the trip but also leading up to it and afterwards. Royal Caribbean has been successful with this through their Crown and Anchor Loyalty Program, personalized emails based on recent searches and the new Royal IQ app that can be used on board.

In today’s society everyone wants the newest, greatest and latest in everything they do which is why Royal Caribbean introduced Symphony of the Seas.

 

Prior to booking your cruise you can plan based on when you want to travel, the ship you want to be on, the destination you want to port out of or the ports of call you want to visit. Once you have been on the website and provided them with your email you will start receiving emails based on the choices you made. Royal Caribbean is trying to make it as easy as possible, that they are remembering your searches and collecting cruises that suit you and emailing them to you. Royal Caribbean uses social media daily to update current and potential travelers of new deals, new locations, new ships, anything and everything that is new and exciting they want to make sure you’re the first to know. They do this through their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest and their own networks; Royal Caribbean Connect and Royal IQ.

Royal Caribbean makes a point of trying to read all their social media posts and respond to them as needed to ensure customers have the best experience possible. One example from Customer Strategist talks about a guy who tweet a pictures of himself on the pool deck saying how much better his vacation would be with a drink in his hand. Not only did they read the tweet but they contact that ship, found where he was sitting based on his picture and delivered him a drink free of charge. This is a simple cheap way of gaining positive social media presence through retweets and the conversation that was created.

Leading up to your vacation they want to make sure you are as prepared as possible, they will allow you to completely check in online so when you arrive at the ship you can get through as fast as possible.

They also have an app called Royal IQ, that can be used on the ship. This is a very handy app that can be downloaded onto your phone and can be used even if you do not purchase the wifi package. You can use it to schedule dinners, excursions, evening entertainment as well as use it as a messaging app to talk to other guests with the app.

Royal Caribbean cares about its customers and wants to make sure you cruise with them again opposed to another company. To help ensure this they have created the Crown and Anchor Loyalty Program which is free to join and is their way of recognizing and rewarding their loyal guests. You receive exclusive benefits and privileges, special offers and earn points based on each cruise you take which can be redeemed for future cruises.

Another way that Royal Caribbean travelers can gain points and rewards for cruising is through the Royal Caribbean Visa Card, with no annual fees you earn bonus points, my cruise points and gain onboard credit to use towards future cruises.

Lessons for Others

Overall Royal Caribbean works hard to have a good relationship with their customers and make sure they are return loyal customers who will continue to pick them each time they plan a vacation. Through personalized emails, Royal IQ app, social media posts and follow-up surveys at the end of the vacation they are striving to make your experience as best as possible.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

---

References