Millennials’ essential need for experiences may be the surge the cruise industry needs
- Millennials want experiences
- Cruises deliver fantastic and over the top type of experiences
- Cruising can deliver experiences to make Millennials adrenaline surge
You’ve heard it all before. Millennials want experiences. They don’t want to buy stuff; they prefer to experience stuff. Cruising may be the ideal vehicle to deliver these experiences, according to the cruise industry experts.
Let’s start by redefining “experiences” as “experiencing the best.” To a degree this involves bragging rights. It should be visually deliverable. In other words, you can take a picture, post it to Social Media Sites and say: “Look what I’m doing right now.”
Cruises are positioned to deliver fantastic and some over the top type of experiences.
10 examples how cruising can deliver experiences to make Millennials adrenaline surge:
The most sophisticated oceangoing wine cellars. You are a wine fan. You selected your ship for that reason. Feel like something special after dessert? They have port wines going back to the 1800s. They have scarce wines available at home only on allocation. They can even arrange a tasting flight of first growth Bordeaux wines. What a story to tell!
Top 10 beaches of the world. Magazines rate them. You choose a ship that visits a couple. You are first off the ship, espadrilles on your feet and camera in your hand. The private island experiences that cruise ships offer have some of the most gorgeous beaches too.
Oldest human settlement in the hemisphere & locations where human understanding is confounded. Let’s not get prehistoric. The pyramids in Egypt are old, but that’s relatively recent compared to Theopetra Cave in Thessaly, Greece. Dating back 135,000 years it’s believed to contain the oldest man-made structure. Spain and France have several places with cave paintings dating back 15,000 to 30,000 years ago.
#1 Restaurant on the island. Trip Advisor rates restaurants by location. Luxury magazines list tops in the world. The Wine Spectator gives awards for best wine lists. One of these gems is on an island your ship visits. Three guesses where you are having lunch.
Rarest plant or flower in the world. Thanks to Kevin Kwan’s best-selling book, Crazy Rich Asians, we learned there are rare flowers in the world. It happens your ship stops at a port with a world class botanic garden. You get to see and photograph something none of your friends will ever see.
Ziplining through a rainforest or the jungle. Compared to other experiences, ziplining or bungee jumping can sound pretty tame. The scenery can be fantastic. Sports can also include the finest golf courses in the world.
The most elegant ship. Magazines rate them annually. You have booked on the most luxurious ship afloat. Incredible lines. Toiletries. Butler service. Unlimited champagne. It’s a once in a lifetime experience. A good example of a new cruise line is Atlas Ocean Voyages, deemed to be one of the most adventuresome and luxurious lines today. Their brand vision was to create a new luxe adventure travel brand defined by a community of spirited individuals with an unbounded lust for life.
The most spacious cabin at sea. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 has a couple measuring 2,249 square feet. According to Statista, the average American home is 2.301 square feet! (2019) You are sailing in a cabin bigger than most homes! Cunard is an ocean liner that will thrill your spirit of adventure.
Most superlative sunset ever. OK, the sun sets pretty uniformly everywhere. Another magazine rates the best sunset locations. (Someone really does!) You are standing in the right place at the right time, camera in hand. There is really nothing that can compare to a beyond gorgeous sunset from a cruise ship on the deep blue ocean.
The largest passenger ship afloat. You choose the biggest, grandest and newest ship afloat: 6,600 passengers. If you met 25 new people a day, every day, it would take almost nine months to meet them all! Your cruise is only seven days!
