OTA Cruise Circle has launched a new brand offering ‘tech-savvy customers who don’t want to interact with a human travel agent’ discounted cruises.   

Discount Cruises offers 10 cruise lines, including MSC Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises.

Customers are offered up to 10% off the normal price due to the booking process being completed online, said Managing Director Jason Daniels.

“Our marketing communications will be clear that we are not discounting the product, we are discounting the price because of how the booking is made,” Jason explained.

“While offering a discount to buy a travel product online versus offline is not ground-breaking, we feel there is an opportunity to deliver a discount message in a consistent and transparent way.”

He said the long-term goal was to feature all ocean cruise lines and added that river cruise operators could soon be sold via Discount Cruises.

Discount Cruises will be promoted on deal sites such as Travelzoo, affiliate networks, and consumer review sites’ and any ‘online travel environments, particularly those with new-to-cruise potential’, he said.

“As technology has evolved, especially during COVID, so have people’s expectations of it.

“Having a fully-responsive, content rich 24-hour bookable e-commerce platform will allow us to meet the growing demands of both the existing cruise market and those new to it.

“Our research has told us that while there is clearly still a strong demand for travel agents in the traditional sense, meeting the expectations of the new generation of cruisers and those who simply prefer to book online, is something we need to be prepared for, and now we are.”

Danielle Nemeth, Sales and Customer Services Director, said: “There will be no obvious connection between our two brands from a consumer perspective.

“Cruise Circle will continue to evolve and grow as a full-service cruise specialist.”

Initially, customers can contact Discount Cruises’ customer service team via email and a contact form, but a chat support function is being developed, Danielle added.

“There are times when a good old fashioned phone call is needed if that’s the case one of the team will reach out to our customers at a convenient time,” she said.