Taking A Spin on Carnival Cruise Line's New Website

Carnival Cruise Line recently redesigned its website with the help of SapientNitro, a division of Publicis.Sapient, to present a fresh take on voyage searches, and it has been recognized with a Digiday Signal Award in the Best Sales Automation Tools & Platform Category to boot. So, let's take a look at what makes it so effective.

As a web developer, I always appreciate innovative user interfaces and particularly ones that employ the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) approach. Not only does the Carnival search succeed on both counts, it's visually intriguing as well. After all, the redesign has been dubbed "Fun Voyage" as it perfectly conveys the perpetual brand promise of fun from start to finish with captivating images.

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"Searching for the right cruise vacation can be challenging - especially for those who have never cruised before - so we set out to create a more immersive search tool that makes planning for a cruise vacation more inspiring," said Christine Esteve, vice president - e-commerce for Carnival Cruise Line. "With the creative input and digital talent of SapientNitro, we've made researching a Carnival cruise almost as much fun as taking one."

Basically, the home page invites users to immediately begin filtering their desired vacation by destinations, departure ports, dates and duration, and as they make their selection, the site automatically updates to display cruises in a grid of beautiful photographs overlaid with details about each and the days it departs. Especially nice is a circle or line graphic that instantly conveys whether it is a roundtrip or one-way itinerary, showing a snapshot of ports along the way.

Pricing is also displayed and can be used to narrow available sailings even more, as can ship, extra savings and specialty cruise selections as well. That is users can specifically dial in Carnival LIVE voyages with specialty entertainment or Carnival Journeys with special itineraries. What's more, the tool even keeps track of your recent searches to easily recall the cruises you've previously discovered.

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Also impressive is how each sailing is further detailed upon clicking it. The full itinerary is displayed in a usual list but in a much bolder fashion with large blocks of images illustrating each port schedule and each appropriately titled "Fun Day at Sea." Scrolling down towards the bottom even outlines activities, dining and accommodations that can be enjoyed and, of course, a listing of prices for each, always highlighting the best price available.

"To stay true to the brand, the Carnival booking experience has to be fun and functional for the end user," said Matthew Kujawa, Sapient's travel and hospitality global lead. "We're excited to continue working with Carnival to create immersive experiences that truly show guests the thrills and excitement of the cruising voyage, but still explore at their own pace and book when they're ready."

The Carnival Cruise Line website will officially receive its recognition at the Digiday Awards gala on November 17 in New York City.

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