An Inimitable Force

BETTER THAN SLICK ADVERTISEMENT:  IT’S A VIBE

When TravPortUSA was originally designed, imagery was a prime consideration.  The Love Boat era, from the 1976 TV pilot movie, was the big inspiration for developing a cruise niche brand.  Ready!Set!TravelNow! became the foundation for the entire TravPortUSA concept.  After considering other names it became clear that something bigger was at play in this venture.  That’s when the inspiration actually took shape!

Rather than just having all travel under one name, TravelNow! became a trifecta of three distinct niches with cruises then branded as Ready!Set!VoyageNow!

TravelNow! swapped boutique and bespoke travel for Hawaii, Las Vegas, and all-inclusive resort destinations.  That eventually evolved to incorporate a Fly/Stay/Drive component to offer complete services that could also support the travel needs of those who book cruises and want to research and purchase travel to and from the cruise port.

Ready.Set.JourneyNow. was assigned the boutique travel niche inspired by the Bahamas beaches of Treasure Cay and the Abacos, Great Harbour Cay and the Berry Islands, and Harbour Island (Eleuthera).

The cumulative effect of these brands was the creation of a capstone in the form of an umbrella, which became The Travel Portfolio|TravPortUSA.  Further tying it all together was the synergy of combining the brand names to create Travel.Voyage.Journey. NOW.

First priority was given to building the VoyageNow! brand.  The happy spark ignited by the airing of The Love Boat as Love, American Style at sea had to translate into this brand in order to have any hope of relating to the energy created by the various cruise lines while capturing the public’s imagination.  This instantly inspired the first tagline:  Cruising Is As Easy As Ready!Set!VoyageNow!  This was soon expanded to convey the sheer magnitude of the number of cruises available across cruise lines, cruise styles, and price points.

Just as Panache Travel was also an early consideration for naming, every tagline had to convey the brands with a certain flair.  As the song from the 1970s by the multi-platinum band Chic asks – in French no less,

“Est-ce que c’est CHIC, ou simplement ordinaire?”

This translates to,

“Is it stylish, or simply ordinary?”

With that in mind, words such as cheap and budget had no place in TravPortUSA parlance.  As a result, the preface for that original slogan became, With A Sailing To Suit Every Taste & Timetable, Cruising, etc., etc.…

When it came to visual messaging, the same sense of style prevailed.

MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE

The original company cruise logo had to be real and nautical; a timeless reflection of what cruising means to so many people.  The view of a ship’s wake presents a romanticized image of cruising.  This iconic image was best described as A Stern View Of Cruising; it’s currently seen on the VoyageNow! Facebook page and on X.

On the TravPortUSA homepage, the web designer provided an interpretation of this theme in The TravPortUSA Brands section.

The VoyageNow! page of the website is where the Stern View Of Cruising concept truly shines.  The site platform had the perfect dynamic background of a ship’s wake, and it became the foundation for the brand in late 2022.  A collage of cruise ships set against that background solidifies the desired look and feel.  With some finishing touches still needed, the site remains a work-in-progress.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TAKE A STERN VIEW OF CRUISING?

In the literal sense, it’s what site visitors do when they visit the VoyageNow! page; it’s also what happens when cruise passengers actually stand out back on their vessel and watch the waves as they allow their cares and worries to melt away with each passing nautical mile.

Figuratively, it is what visitors do as they enter their search parameters and view results on The Internet’s Largest Cruise Database, thus living the promise of the original tagline.

This phraseology is a call-to-action utilize the website’s search engine to explore all the various cruise options.  To celebrate deployment of the search widget, the joyful message of offering everything from Weekend Escapes to World Cruises provides continuity for the work that has been put into promoting the cruise brand.

In order to boost awareness of the search tool, posting will evolve towards promoting specific itineraries, cruise lines, and cruise seasons.  This is all in an effort to entice potential clients to take that stern view.