Princess Cruises: Is The UX Fit For Royalty?
That’s a pretty big title to live up to, so I’m curious. I embark on a journey to evaluate their website’s user experience, both via mobile and desktop. There’s a high probability that my phone is already on my person at any given moment, so I cast off from there first.
Mobile: First Impressions
I land their page and initially see the advertisement for their “The Love Boat Sale” (to celebrate them hosting the reboot for the show), and acknowledge the cookies. The screen has decent visuals, until I scroll down to the bland blocks of text. The rest of the home page looks rather dated. The deals, however, are appealing enough. The pictures, too. I’m enticed to navigate to the “Themed Getaway Cruises” with fares from $70 per day. I was shown three options all leaving from the West Coast. Bummer!
I navigate over to the “Cruisetours” option to see if I have any more options, and completely lose track of the deal. I’m now to start a new search with all of their options. I try to return to the “Cruises” tab, and I’m even more lost now, as the filters have been reset. I try to open the website’s menu, but it only shows me a search bar. This isn’t the best sign for what’s to come.
I return to the home page via the Princess logo to continue my excursion. The bar at the bottom seems very useful and inviting to contact customer service for more information via an inquiry form for live chat, not AI. I found the Love Boat Sale page not very useful, as there’s no code or extra action needed in order to activate the sale. I appreciate that every cruise available has the full, detailed itinerary listed on its respective page. It’s generally very easy to find details about the cruise you’re interested in. It just lacks pizzazz, which doesn’t match the branding and glamourous pictures at all.
Desktop Site: Continued Impressions
I instantly find it considerably more streamlined. The menu exists horizontally on every page you visit, and is effectively categorized. I have a completely different impression of the brand here, suddenly the simplistic approach is working for them. As I navigate, it feels classy and classic. The un-customized text blocks are now forgivable. It could still use a bit of an overhaul, but it feels nostalgic and inviting, rather than clunky and dated. I can also input the starting port here (unlike the mobile site), since this is a deciding factor for me personally. I select a cruise and navigate up until the final checkout, and I found everything extremely streamlined and easy. The back button also efficiently takes me back to the previous step, not forcing me to start over anywhere.
Final Thoughts
When viewing the mobile site, I was put off quite a bit. However, my impression completely changed when I switched to the desktop version. While as a brand you can’t afford to give your prospective customer any negative initial thoughts, I do understand why the mobile site might’ve been an afterthought for them. Booking a cruise is usually considered a big purchase, perhaps too big to complete with your phone.
