Cruiseline.com Acquires Leading Cruise Mobile App: Ship Mate Cruise App
New York, NY (PRWEB) November 05, 2013 -- Cruiseline.com, the second largest cruise review website and pioneer of verified cruise reviews, today announced its acquisition of Ship Mate Cruise App, the largest mobile cruise community with more than 170,000 iOS and Android users.
The app, which will be co-branded “Ship Mate Cruise App by Cruiseline.com,” will become the mobile experience for Cruiseline.com members. Resources will be invested in upgrading the app to include verified reviews, photos and editorial content from Cruiseline.com’s online travel magazine, Bon Voyage. At the same time, the Cruiseline.com website will incorporate some of the app’s content such as user tips, ratings and photos. New features will launch in phases starting first quarter of 2014.
“Ship Mate and Cruiseline.com have the same mission: to be the brand consumers trust to plan their cruise and interact with other travelers before, during and after their voyage,” said Faraz Qureshi, general manager of Cruiseline.com. “Ship Mate has done a fantastic job of building a cruise community on mobile platforms, while we have been focused on the web. Our goal in combining resources is to become the best cruise resource, regardless of which device customers use – their smartphone, desktop or tablet.”
Launched in 2010 by brothers Jan and Mike Jirout, Ship Mate was the very first cruising app on iTunes. With its motto "don't wait to start your cruise," the app was designed to help travelers prepare for their voyage via reviews, ratings, suggestions and tips for all cruise ships and ports, and chat rooms to converse with fellow cruisers. The Jirouts will be joining Cruiseline.com full-time and the teams will immediately begin working together to extend the functionality of the Ship Mate Cruise App.
"We're very excited about the acquisition and future of Ship Mate,” said Mike Jirout, co-founder of Ship Mate Cruise App. “Over the past three years, we've built a product that we're proud of and a passionate community that is unmatched in the cruise industry. This partnership will allow us to best serve our users by leveraging the additional resources that we now have access to, including the experienced team at Cruiseline.com."
The already-successful app brings to Cruiseline.com more than 600,000 downloads, 20,000 ship and port ratings and 10,000 user photos. Ship Mate reached number two in Apple's Travel Apps store, behind Kayak (among more than 40,000 travel apps on offer).
About Cruiseline.com
Cruiseline.com launched in December 2012 as an independent, objective guide to cruises. With over 40,000 reviews to date, the site simplifies the task of choosing a cruise with unbiased opinions from fellow passengers. Unlike other cruise communities, Cruiseline.com guarantees the authenticity of thousands of verified reviews, and uses member opinions to rank the best cruises, ships and itineraries with a “Sail Score.” For more information and to join the conversation, visit: http://www.Cruiseline.com.
Lauren Kaufman, LKPR, +1 (917) 414-1604, [email protected]
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