The Social Network for Cruisers

MeetOnCruise Media Kit

Background
Fact Sheet
Biographies
Press Mentions
News
Photos & Logos
Media Contact

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Background

History

The concept for MeetOnCruise.com came about while Faraz Qureshi and Eddy Garrido were on a cruise! Faraz and Eddy had a nice time the first few days of the cruise, but the fun really started when they met some truly wonderful, like minded people on the last few days of the cruise. So while playing the highlights of the trip over some lunch, they lamented the fact that they didn't meet their new friends earlier in the trip: "think about how much better it would have been if we met up with them the very first day of the cruise." They asked themselves, why isn't there an easy way to meet others going on your cruise, before the cruise (especially with the large booking window common with cruises)?

Cruising is a very social vacation with hundreds and thousands of vacationers on a small floating city for an extended period of time. Faraz and Eddy discussed how there had to be an easier way to meet people with shared interests. For example, Faraz is a scuba diver and always looking for a diving partner when traveling.

Once back on land, they did some research and discovered there was not an easy way to do this. Most of the cruise websites were cluttered and not easy to navigate. Given Faraz and Eddy's interest in technology and startups they cobbled together their personal savings and decided to create a solution to enhance the cruise experience for guests before, during and after their cruise.

MeetOnCruise.com was launched as an early beta web application in January of 2010. Listening to the cruise community, Faraz and Eddy kept refining and improving the application. With no money to spend on advertising and marketing, MeetOnCruise continued to grow slowly by engaging with their community. In the summer of 2010 Faraz and Eddy got a lucky break. The LA Times noticed the application and ran a short blurb on it calling it “A Social Network for Cruising”.

Since then, the team has launched several new features such as comprehensive Cruise Line and Ship profiles, Reviews, Quick Tips, Port Guides, Login with Facebook and Photo sharing. Faraz and Eddy continue to build the application based on two principles: A) Provide a great online experience for the user and B) Provide it for free.

Why

Co-Founder Faraz Qureshi explains why they built this service:

If you are on a ship with thousands of other vacationers, there is a good chance there are others on the ship that share your interests. People already have one thing in common - they enjoy cruises! Whether you are looking for an activity partner to share a tour with or you are a family looking for another family with kids of similar ages or a single person interested in meeting other singles, there ought to be an easy way for people to meet up BEFORE your cruise. We couldn't find a simple, user friendly way to do that...and that's why we created MeetOnCruise.

Co-Founder Eddy Garrido explains the importance of the cruise vacationer:

We built the site with the cruise enthusiast in mind because we, ourselves are cruise lovers. Growing up in Miami, I’ve been around cruises all my life. Having been on different cruises with family, friends and my wife, one thing remains the same – the difference between a good cruise and a great one was the people we met and shared our time with.

Fact Sheet

Company Overview

Our Mission is to be the online platform for cruise consumers to interact & share experiences before, during and after their cruise.

Today, the MeetOnCruise service provides the following:

Join a cruise roll call - Enter your ship and sailing date on the home page and you will be taken to your cruise roll call page. The page includes the cruise itinerary, other cruisers that have joined and a countdown clock that can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.
Meet and interact with other cruisers - Participate in an online discussion with other cruisers on the roll call page. Even users not on the cruise can participate and provide helpful tips and suggestions.
View other active roll calls - Quickly scan by cruise line and ship all 'active' roll calls (where at least one member has joined).
Review a cruise - Rate your cruise experience and help other cruisers make a better choice. Also rate each category (embarkation, dining, etc.).
Provide a quick tip - In 300 characters or less, describe a tip about the ship you sailed on (e.g. on Epic, you should book your entertainment as soon as you board).
Share photos - Upload photos of your cruise and create a beautiful photo album to share
Create a 'Cruise Resume' - Show off your cruise profile. How many cruises you have been on, what you like to do on cruises, your photos, tips and reviews.
Browse Cruise Line and Ship Profiles - Who's cruising on each line. Also, reviews/tips, roll calls and FAQs.
Read Port Guides - A cruiser's guide on what to do, where to eat and how to get around the major ports in the Caribbean.

What sets MeetOnCruise apart?

The user experience of a social network - similar to what folks would find when using other modern social networks such as profiles (2nd most popular page) and newsfeeds. Most cruise community websites are forum-based which are simple question and answer format.

Our "Roll Calls" are the easiest and most user-friendly solution compared to the other websites. In a few clicks you can find which ship you are sailing, see who else is going, join the roll call and post comments in a discussion. People already "checked in" to a roll call get automatic notifications when others join.

MeetOnCruise has an iPhone app, which is rated 5 stars in the iTunes store.

Completely integrated with Facebook. Users can login or create an account with Facebook and share their reviews, roll calls and more with their Facebook friends

Reach

Each month, there are over 8000 visits to MeetOnCruise.com and over 3000 visits to the MeetOnCruise iPhone app.

There are over 2300 registered members in the MeetOnCruise community.

Biographies

Faraz is the co-founder and CEO of MeetOnCruise. Before founding MeetOnCruise, Faraz spent several years in management consulting helping large corporate clients improve their business by leveraging technology more efficiently. Faraz also worked for a few internet startups and started his career at Accenture (a technology consulting firm). To relax, Faraz loves to scuba dive, travel and read. Faraz has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University and a MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Eddy is the co-founder and VP of Marketing of MeetOnCruise. Before founding MeetOnCruise, Eddy did business development and project management for several technology startups in credit card processing and helping state governments improve their collections. Prior to that Eddy worked with and counseled children with mental health issues. Eddy has a BA in Psychology from Florida International University.

Joe is a Special Advisor to MeetOnCruise. With 35 years of experience in the Cruise industry, Joe has managed a cruise line, served in executive roles at major cruise agencies and has founded several ventures. In short, there is little Joe has not done in cruises and the industry has recognized this by nominating him into the industry's (CLIA) Hall of Fame in 2005. Joe (aka Cruise Professor) currently lives in Ft. Lauderdale and has been on over 250 cruises and he still can't wait for his next one.

Past Press Coverage

August 12, 2011 - Thrillist Miami: "...totally free MOC's basically Facebook for cruisers, letting you facilitate relationships with fellow travelers before you even get on the boat” http://www.thrillist.com/node/2336493/MIA/MeetOnCruise
August 11, 2011 - The Miami Herald: "...social-media inspired design focuses on people connections more than other popular cruise sites” Print edition - Page 8B, Business Briefs
August 4, 2011 - Cruise Radio: “The new app from MeetOnCruise.com is out and is pretty cool” http://cruiseradio.net/radio-shows/episode-99-weather-channel-carnival-splendor-iphone-app/
July 22, 2011 - Palm Beach Post MeetOnCruise releases new mobile app.
June 9, 2010 - Tnooz: http://www.tnooz.com/2010/06/09/tlabs/tlabs-showcase-meetoncruise
July 2nd, 2010 - The LA Times: “A Social Network for Cruising” http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/index.php/web-buzz-meetoncruis-7180
July 18, 2010 - The Philadelphia Inquirer: “You can use MeetOnCruise.com to find out who's on your cruise before you set sail” http://articles.philly.com/2010-07-18/travel/24968437_1_preview-shipmates-internet
August 9, 2010 - Cruise Radio: “If you're a social media person, this is for you. Such a cool concept!” http://cruiseradio.net/radio-shows/episode-48-fighting-norovirus

Press Releases / News From MeetOnCruise

November 29, 2011 - Meet On Cruise Charts Growth. Read Press Release
October 18, 2011 - Cruise Veteran Joins Meet On Cruise. Read Press Release
August 16, 2011 - MeetOnCruise.com Launches Social Media Network Designed to Connect Cruise Enthusiasts. Read Press Release
July 20, 2011 - Cruise Travelers Meet their Shipmates Using Their Iphone. Read Press Release
June 23, 2011 - Share countdown clock on Facebook Read Blog Post
May 30, 2011 - Upload Photo Albums Read Blog Post
Feb 1, 2011 - Launching Port Guides Read Blog Post