Do Passengers Listen to Their Crew? The Use of Word-of-Mouth Recommendations on Board a Cruise Ship

This research seeks to determine the perceived role that cruise ship crew play in regards to providing cruise passengers with word-of-mouth (WOM) information in respect to the activity/attraction choices at a destination. In-depth interviews were conducted with crew members in New Zealand and cruise passengers aboard three cruise ships voyaging between Australia and New Zealand. The findings from this research indicate that the crew members believe they play an influential role in providing passengers with WOM information. However, this finding was not supported by the cruise passengers, given that they most often used WOM information sources that were perceived to be independent of the cruise line.