You Can Save Up to 30% on Your Next Cruise Using This Brand-new Booking Site

Launched last week, Cruisebound promises greater savings and a simplified booking process.

Cruising is making a major comeback in 2023. And thanks to a new site, booking a cruise has never been easier. What should be a quick one-and-done booking experience often gets intimidating once you start searching for the right cruise, as various sites start drawing travelers in with various perks and deals.

Cruisebound, a newly launched site aimed at first-time cruisers, simplifies the often complicated process by aggregating all the deals with easy comparison tools. Available both on desktop and mobile, the site estimates it can help travelers find personalized savings of between 15 and 30 percent.

“The main benefit of Cruisebound is that the whole experience is built to make it simple and intuitive for customers to find the best deal for their cruise vacation,” Cruisebound CEO and co-founder Pierre-Olivier Lepage told Travel + Leisure in a statement. “Because we built Cruisebound to sell cruises and only cruises, the display provides all the details consumers need to make an informed decision.”

Backed by a team that includes former Tripadvisor co-founder Steve Kaufer and former Booking Holdings Inc. chairman and CEO Jeff Boyd, the site uses specifics for each traveler to pull pricing from major cruise lines.

Early on in the booking process, users will be asked whether they qualify for discounts as members of the military or senior citizens, or perhaps as part of group or consortium rates or as a return cruiser. “A point of differentiation is that on Cruisebound, the user does not need to call a number or have any promo codes,” Claire Gibbons, Cruisebound's vice president of product, told T+L. “The product is doing all the checking and logic by default to find the lowest rate for each individual customer.” That process, she said, provides those strong savings, as opposed to the public rates.

Cruisebound, which officially launched on Jan. 19 after a year in beta, hopes to attract millennials and Gen Z travelers with a mobile-optimized experience. They found that 91 percent of bookings made during their beta phase were on a mobile device, and that the average age of Cruisebound users is 36 years old.

But just because there’s an emphasis on the digital booking process doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a human touch. “Every reservation is backed by the Human Support Guarantee, ensuring world-class, live, post-booking customer service,” the company said in a release, explaining that Cruisebound consultants are available via phone, text, and email.

There are no hidden fees, including the booking fees so often seen on other cruise sites, the company added. They also allow reservations to be held for free, with the exact length of the hold varying by cruise line.

“My favorite feature on Cruisebound today is the multi-cabin booking experience,” Lepage said. “During beta testing, we had so many customers contacting us because they were traveling with friends and/or family and wanted cabins close by. We listened to that feedback and built an intuitive experience for people to book multiple cabins in one transaction.” He’s proud to adapt to the customer needs, adding that being able to “resolve the pain points quickly” is the ultimate goal.

“I strongly believe that there is an appealing cruise experience for all types of travelers — singles, young couples, families, multi-generational trips, people seeking an adventure, or just wanting to relax,” Lepage added. “The more details and content we provide, the easier it will be for users to choose the best cruise for them.”

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