Virgin Blue Launches Unique Cruise Website

Multi-award winning airline Virgin Blue has teamed up with OurVacationStore (OVS) to offer online cruise packages, providing a convenient ‘one-stop’ shop for cruise vacations.

The comprehensive ‘Cruises, partnered by Virgin Blue’ website (www.virginblue.com.au/cruises|), which represents all the major cruise lines including Captain Cook, P&O, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Cunard, to name a few, offers competitive pricing, so there’s no need to surf other websites to compare.

As an added bonus, travellers who book packages through ‘Cruises partnered by Virgin Blue’ will also be offered complimentary* extras depending on their level of spend including Virgin Blue flights to/from cruises, The Lounge passes or bonus miles on most cruises.

Currently offering the perfect blend of extensive online content with live, personalised service, ‘Cruises partnered by Virgin Blue’, also plans to shortly unveil a unique functionality which will allow travellers the convenience of researching, planning, choosing and paying for their cruise online.

Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, “We’re pleased to be adding such a high quality cruise product to the expanding range of travel possibilities Virgin Blue currently offers travellers.

“Apart from competitive pricing ‘Cruises, partnered by Virgin Blue’, has over 150 vessels visiting nearly 2000 ports and will soon be the only website in Australia to offer a real-time booking functionality,” he finished.

‘Cruises, partnered by Virgin Blue’ has a variety of itineraries to fit any budget, destination and travelling preference, so there is something for everyone. Guests can plan their perfect cruise online from a range of packages to suit all ages and interests from “Romance for Couples” to “Activities for Singles”, “Adventure”, “Families”, “Relaxation” and “Seniors” voyages.

Velocity Members^ will also soon be able to earn and spend Velocity Points on cruises booked via “Cruises partnered by Virgin Blue” when it becomes a Partner of Virgin Blue’s award winning loyalty program later this year.

Cruising is the fastest growing segment in the travel industry with cruise passenger numbers growing 60 per cent between 2002 and 2005. In 2006, more than 221,000 Australians booked a cruise holiday, an increase of 18 percent on the previous year.