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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Cruise Line Channels Shark Week

If there’s one topic you would expect people to avoid on a cruise ship, it’s sharks. But a partnership between Princess Cruises and a subsidiary of Discovery Commu-nications Inc., actually promoted the oceanic predators – and passengers loved it. The Santa Clarita cruise line held Shark Week at Sea this month on all of its ships in conjunction with Discovery Channel’s Shark Week programming block. The campaign is part of the companies’ Discovery at Sea partnership. Shark décor, shark-inspired food and a variety of games and activities were available for passengers fleetwide. The campaign included promotional giveaways and a Shark Week premiere party. Activities that took place during the week included shark-themed standup comedy and a game that required guests to organize teams and complete a series of sharklike challenges. Stewart Chiron, chief executive of website CruiseGuy.com, doesn’t find it weird that a cruise line promoted sharks aboard its ships. “Sharks for a lot of people are really exciting, which is why this series is so popular,” Chiron said. “As I understand it, this Shark Week at Sea was wildly attended and enjoyed by passengers. It’s an educational series and it has high interest.” The strategy behind the Discovery at Sea partnership, which was announced in November, is to tie recreational activities to content from cable TV’s Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and Science Channel. Other cruises will feature a Stargazing at Sea experience, inspired by shows on the Science Channel, and Animal Planet-related shore excursions. The cruise line would not disclose the financial arrangement behind the partnership, but spokeswoman Karen Candy said the company anticipates Shark Week at Sea will become an annual event. “We’re thrilled that the reaction has been extremely positive,” she said. – Champaign Williams

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