Cruise News - Maritime News

TripAdvisor users can now write cruise reviews, share their favorite vacation photos and even shop for deals from an inventory of more than 70,000 cruises.

The travel website announced the launch of TripAdvisor Cruises on Tuesday, unveiling a handful of new features, including "Ship-tinerary" pages, which TripAdvisor calls "the most comprehensive tool in cruise planning."

The tool will provide thorough ship profiles, traveler reviews, photos and advice to help users decide which cruise is right for them.

Available in the U.S. and U.K., the new portal will also allow users to compare prices, sort and filter cruises by cabin type, itineraries, price and more as well read and write reviews while sharing their photos.

"We know our community demands the best options while traveling and by adding awe-inspiring cruises to our platform, we're excited to support the continued growth of the overall cruise industry by bringing cruise to the world's largest travel audience," said Bryan Saltzburg, president of TripAdvisor Flights, Cruise & Car, in a statement.

"The addition of Cruise will help solve the complexity of planning and booking a voyage, supported by the confidence of rich user-generated content with reviews and photos from millions of TripAdvisor members. For example, cruisers can research and book their flight to the port, a hotel room for the night before departure, review 'Ship-tinerary' pages, compare cabin options, book excursions and read reviews all in one place."

TripAdvisor says cruise lines around the world are embracing the new portal as a way to reach more travelers.

"The cruise industry is growing at an incredible pace, with more travelers than ever planning their vacations at sea," added Gordon Ho, Princess Cruises Chief Marketing Officer. "Having cruise represented on TripAdvisor acknowledges the growth of the sector as a vacation option and will help to introduce cruising to a massive new audience, as part of the world's largest travel site. We're thrilled to introduce Princess Cruises award-winning cruise experience to TripAdvisor travelers."

TripAdvisor said that the new portal will expose cruise to up to half a billion monthly users. Citing data from last year, the travel website reports that nearly one-third (32 percent) of its users have cruised before and almost half (44 percent) are cruise shoppers.

TripAdvisor plans to add more cruise lines, cruise ships and content while expanding to other markets in the coming months.