Big Interview: The Global cruise app revolutionising how we cruise

Matthew Jones tells Mel Healy how his company ensure the industry innovates

Cruisers are a passionate cohort, forever keen to talk about their nautical journeys and share their cruise history with like-minded travellers.

Matthew Jones inherited his love of cruising. It’s literally part of his DNA, given his parents met when they were working on the QE2 in the 1980s – his mum was a nurse and his dad, an engineer. 

“I’ve always felt a deep affinity to cruising,” Jones, co-founder of The Cruise Globe admits. “[Essentially] it’s a fascination with ocean liners and all the inherent romance that surrounds them.”

Jones, who is a start-up expert, has recently developed a cruising concept that’s revolutionising the industry.

In collaboration with his university friend, Will Ellison, a naval architect, and Emma Le Teace, one of the world’s largest cruise content creators, The Cruise Maps (cruisemaps.com) was born.

Personalised print maps for cruise passengers are where it began, and that business continues to thrive with gifting a huge part of the motivation for purchasing for those who clock up cruising milestones or have family/friends who do. 

Within six months, the trio has expanded its offering, now providing the cruising cohort a game-changing digital, interactive platform that uses historical AIS satellite ship tracking data.

“This means that cruisers can now log their entire cruise history on a map and then see all of their collective journey statistics in one place,” notes Jones.

The new app, The Cruise Globe, which is available on Android and IOS, is being described as ‘the digital companion for every cruiser’.

“We know that cruisers love to talk about their travels, and they love collecting stuff and comparing their travels with others. This is what our whole business model is predicated on,” he adds. 

Catering to both Android and iOS users, the new free-to-use app will include the existing elements of the digital platform including the ability to accurately and visually log the exact satellite-derived route of their cruise holiday on an interactive map. 

According to Jones, users can benefit from a full breakdown of the statistics from their entire cruise history, including the number of ports and countries visited, along with the exact total distance travelled.

It the only app with live cruise tracking in 3D. Utilising AIS satellite data, the live tracking displays cruises in a vivid satellite view, with more in-port detail than existing ship trackers. 

It uses the best live data available on the market for maximum accuracy and offers users the first ever 3D imagery of live cruises across the globe.

“The launch of our new mobile app marks a huge milestone for The Cruise Globe. It offers a ready-made companion for agents who can utilise their previous routes to inspire clients whilst on the go at events and shows,” said Jones. 

“We started this as a passion project for cruise fans, and we’ve now grown it into a community of more than 60,000 users in just six months, and we’re just getting started.”

Eventually, the team expects that the app will be capable of outputting a predictive route, and as soon as a cruiser books a cruise, they’ll put it in the app. It will be possible to track that cruise live, share it with friends and then put it in your cruise logbook, where it will remain forevermore.

JL Smith, a 30-something self-confessed cruise addict from Sydney, Australia says of the new app: “After over 1600 days at sea and close to 200 cruises to all 7 continents, it’s been so much fun using The Cruise Globe to track my journeys.

“I’m also a data nerd so I also love seeing things like the number of nautical miles sailed and then the maps make it so interactive. In fact, The Cruise Globe has even made me remember things about cruises from years ago I’d forgotten about. I love The Cruise Globe and consider it a cruise-lovers essential!”

Fifty-year-old Floridian cruise enthusiast, Mark McClure, adds: “The Cruise Globe has been an incredible tool for tracking every cruise and ship I’ve sailed on. My favourite feature is the ability to see the total nautical miles I’ve travelled and even replay the exact routes of each journey. It’s a cool way to relive those experiences, and I recommend it to every fellow cruiser I meet!”

Dan Hammond, Cruise & Travel Specialist at GoCruise & Travel remarked: “The new app will let me showcase the journeys I’ve taken and the routes ships sail, adding a personal touch when inspiring clients. 

“The ability to visually share past cruises and highlight real itineraries on the app is a great tool to bring the excitement of cruising to life wherever I am. The Cruise Globe app will be a game changer for us!”

With more than 300,000 sailings already logged on The Cruise Globe, the app is well on its way to changing the way we travel and share those cruise experiences more broadly.