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Best Practices — Partner Promotion

Partner Promotion

Six proven touchpoints that drive guest adoption. Implement all six and watch conversion rates climb.

Built on what works across all Ship&Play brands

These best practices are drawn from across the Ship&Play portfolio — representing hundreds of active partners and millions of shipments. What you see here is the distilled playbook of what consistently drives adoption and guest satisfaction.

The Activation Playbook

Ship&Play provides all marketing assets and copy. Your team's job is to deploy them consistently across these six touchpoints. The more touchpoints active, the higher your conversion.

01

Pre-Cruise Email

Highest Impact

Send a dedicated Ship&Play promotional email 45–60 days before each sailing. This is the single highest-converting touchpoint in the partnership. Guests are actively planning and receptive to adding services.

Best Practices

  • Send 45–60 days pre-sail (before airline baggage locks in)
  • Subject line: "Ship your bags — travel lighter with [Cruise Line]"
  • Include co-branded URL and unique promo code
  • Personalize with sailing date, port, and guest name
  • Follow up with a reminder at 21 days pre-sail
Email templates provided by Ship&Play — contact Brett Noll to request
02

Website Callout

High Impact

Add a Ship&Play banner or callout module to your cruise detail pages, booking confirmation pages, and guest services section. Drives organic discovery for guests planning their voyage.

Recommended Placements

  • Cruise detail/itinerary pages (below the fold)
  • Booking confirmation / thank you page
  • Guest services & pre-cruise planning section
  • FAQ page ("How do I handle my luggage?")
Banner ads and embed widgets available — contact Brett Noll
03

Call Center Scripting

High Volume

Train your reservation and guest services agents to proactively offer Ship&Play on qualifying calls. A 30-second offer during the booking or pre-sail call dramatically increases awareness and conversion.

Suggested Agent Script

"Before I let you go — are you planning to fly to [port]? We partner with Ship&Play to ship your luggage directly to the ship, so you can skip the baggage carousel and travel hands-free. Would you like me to give you the link?"

When to Offer

  • During the initial booking call
  • On pre-cruise service calls (30–45 days out)
  • When a guest mentions flying to the port
  • When a guest mentions packing concerns or mobility
04

Digital Signage

Medium Impact

Display Ship&Play promotions on digital screens in guest service areas, embarkation lounges, and terminal waiting areas. Captures guests at the exact moment they're thinking about logistics.

Best Placements

  • Terminal embarkation and disembarkation areas
  • Onboard guest services desk
  • Ship lobby / atrium screens
  • Disembarkation waiting lounge (drives next-cruise signups)
Digital display assets available in 16:9 and 9:16 — contact Brett Noll
05

Onboard Collateral

High Impact

Physical printed materials placed in cabins, guest service desks, and cruise directors' offices. A QR code linking to the co-branded booking page makes conversion frictionless.

Material Types

  • Cabin card: Placed in-cabin on embarkation day (pre-cruise promo) or final night (disembarkation promo)
  • Flyer / brochure: Available at guest services desk throughout voyage
  • Daily program insert: Small strip ad in the ship's daily schedule
  • Welcome packet mention: Brief mention in the embarkation welcome package
  • Premium acrylic signs: For guest services desk
Print-ready PDF files provided — Ship&Play covers printing for qualified partners
06

Special Services & Grand Voyages

High Value

Grand Voyages, World Cruises, and Premium Voyages are the highest-value opportunity for Ship&Play. Guests on these sailings pack more, pay more, and have the most to gain from our service.

What Makes These Different

  • Guests are packing for 30–180+ days — multiple bags guaranteed
  • Ship&Play coordinates with each port stop as needed
  • Concierge provides white-glove planning call for each Grand Voyage guest
  • Custom pricing packages available for luxury & expedition segments

Best Practice

Flag all Grand Voyage and World Cruise bookings for a Ship&Play outreach call at 90 days pre-sail. Our Concierge team will handle the rest.

Partner Best Practices

Start with email

If you can only activate one touchpoint, make it pre-cruise email. It drives 60% of all partner-sourced bookings.

Timing matters

Offer Ship&Play 45–90 days pre-sail. Too close to departure and guests can't meet shipping deadlines.

Train your guest-facing staff

Call center agents, shore excursion staff, and concierge desks should all know the service and the co-branded URL.

Use the co-branded URL

Your unique URL ensures attribution, unlocks partner-specific pricing, and maintains brand consistency for guests.

Prioritize premium segments

Luxury, suites, and Grand Voyage guests convert at 3x the rate of standard cabin bookings. Start there.

Report & optimize quarterly

Ship&Play provides quarterly booking reports by touchpoint. Use them to double down on what's working.