The story of online cruise bookings is a rare case of a victory of suppliers against metasearch.

After seeing solid use of Facebook by cruise lines for communicating with customers, more evidence emerging that the sector is less keen on the other major social network, Twitter.

Carnival Cruise Lines is testing new ancillary fee revenue, moving away from the all-inclusive fare model that’s been traditional in the cruise segment. Passengers get faster boarding for a $50 fee.

Looks like no area of the industry is safe from those wanting to try the flash sale concept – this time its the cruise sector with UK metasearch site CruiseCompare having a go.

Curious little tale kicking about for almost a week, after a UK-based travel agency boss created a Facebook group to start a campaign against cruise operators.