Princess Cruises: Signing Up For Silence
When I signed up for Princess Cruises’ email list I didn’t expect over communication, but I didn’t expect silence, either. It was fairly easy to find the link to sign up, as it’s right at the top of the home page. I entered my name and email address, then promptly received an email from them thanking me and requesting to create a full profile.
The email is extremely simple, with blank space throughout. One thing that immediately bugged me was that “thanks” is in all lower case. What’s up with that? It seems like no one cared to capitalize the first word that you look at. If it was for aesthetic reasons or to give off a casual vibe, wouldn’t the rest also not be capitalized? I’m beginning to think that the whole email list is an afterthought.
However, because simplicity is highly valued in email best practices, there’s not much more visibly wrong with this one. It’s clear, concise, and I can unsubscribe easily.
Will I ever Hear From Them Again?
I went ahead and registered a new account with them. I gave Princess a plethora of information, my full name, address, birthday, etc. and days go by without me hearing anything else from them. It feels like I’ve been ghosted. I won’t back down that easily, though. I’m determined to hear from them again.
I navigate the website hoping to receive some trigger emails. I know that those usually come as a result of the prospective customer showing interest in purchasing something. So, my strategy was to go through the pre-booking process. I clicked around a particular cruise package, scoping out details then periodically checked for emails. Nothing yet. Next, I went further into the process, selecting staterooms and locations, up until I got the total (which was like adding the package to my cart). I waited for a while this time for any sort of nudge towards the purchase, and nothing. I entered all of the information and… I accidentally booked the entire cruise. I wasn’t expecting that since I didn’t enter any credit card information.
At least I finally get an email from them! The same evaluation of the welcome email would apply, except for the block of plain text. That seems to be a theme for this cruise line, but at least it’s on brand.
Oops?
The next morning I got a call from a strange number. I don’t know what possessed me to pick it up. It’s from Princess Cruises! I apologized to the representative and canceled the booking, but not without a few questions. I wanted to get to the bottom of this apathetic email approach.
Thankfully, he was happy to disclose! Through our conversation, I found out that Princess Cruises only sends out mass emails to announce a new promotion. They also have a subtler approach to coaxing their customers to make a purchase: they’ll start emailing you personalized promotions, especially when you’re not buying. The longer your account goes without booking, the more emails you’ll receive.
My Takeaway:
While it’s great to not be bombarded with emails from brands, it doesn’t seem effective to go the other way, either. Increased frequency of communication with new contacts should be a major point of improvement for Princess Cruises. While it’s great that a customer was enticed enough to sign up, it’s imperative to build upon that fleeting initial interest, lest they forget you entirely.
