In this workshop
Your brief
Example Travel's illustrative email helps first-time cruisers compare what different fares include. Your task is to adapt the finished email and linked comparison page shown here for an audience you are entitled to contact. The campaign has one main idea: check the whole holiday rather than judging the headline fare alone. It is not a reason to email every historic booking contact or add guide downloaders to ongoing marketing automatically.
A permission-checked email, a matching cruise guide and a review covering useful responses and opt-outs.
Three things you will make
Build these during the workshopA defined cruise audience
Record why these readers can receive this marketing, their relevant interest and the exclusions or suppression records to apply.
One complete, tested email
Use the subject Your first cruise: what should you compare?, a short explanation, the guide link, a monitored reply route and clear preference controls.
A response and learning note
Connect useful clicks and replies to suitable enquiries, record opt-outs and choose the next topic from actual reader questions.
Before you start
Have these to hand
- An email marketing service
- A record of how contacts joined and their permissions
- A relevant guide or offer page
- A monitored reply address
Need the foundations first?
The starter and reference guides explain the essentials. Use the relevant guide, then return here to build your campaign.
Use this as your reference
Read the numbered annotations, then use the exercises to create your own version.
A complete cruise planning email
Illustrative email to readers who chose Example Travel's cruise emails; the business and campaign are fictional.
Cruise planning notes
1Your first cruise: what should you compare?
2Hello,
A lower headline fare does not always mean the same holiday costs less. Start by checking what each fare includes and which extras matter to you. Our guide gives you a checklist to use alongside your quotes.
Check drinks, dining, excursions, gratuities and transfers. Inclusions vary between fares and sailings.
Reply to this email with the options you are considering and tell us what matters most.
You chose Example Travel's cruise emails. Manage preferences: example.com/email-preferences · Unsubscribe: example.com/unsubscribe · Privacy: example.com/privacy
- 1A useful subject
The subject tells a cruise subscriber what they will learn, without artificial urgency.
- 2One clear idea
The email gives practical advice, a monitored reply route and visible preference and unsubscribe information.
- 3One main link
The prominent button leads to the exact comparison guide described in the message.
Ship photograph in Brazil by Charles Assuncao / Unsplash. Photograph is illustrative, not a specific advertised trip.
Three working stages
Build: match the message to a permitted audience
Check the contact basis and cruise interest before writing. Valid consent and the conditional soft opt-in are different routes; an old booking or download is not enough on its own. Adapt the example around drinks, dining, gratuities, excursions and transfers, making clear that inclusions vary. Keep one prominent guide link rather than a catalogue of unrelated offers.
Select the relevant audience and check permissions, exclusions and suppression records.
Verify that the guide answers the fare-comparison question and offers personal help.
Write the sender, subject, email body, reply route and accurate reason for receipt.
Launch: test the inbox-to-enquiry journey
Follow your provider's sender-authentication guidance; ask for technical help where needed. Send a real test to a phone and desktop inbox. Read it with images unavailable, click the guide link and test preference changes and unsubscribe. A campaign should be sent when someone can answer the questions it invites.
Confirm the sender setup and test every link, including unsubscribe.
Open the guide, complete its enquiry route and confirm the responsible adviser receives it.
Send through the authorised system and monitor replies and delivery problems.
Review: learn from responses rather than opens alone
Privacy features and automated systems can affect email reporting, so use opens cautiously and inspect useful clicks, replies and enquiries together. Allow the normal sales process to develop before judging bookings. Check whether the advice created questions you can answer, and whether complaints or opt-outs indicate a mismatch in permission, relevance or frequency.
Record the useful questions and resulting enquiry outcomes.
Confirm opt-outs are retained so later imports do not restore them.
Choose one follow-up topic for the permitted audience, based on a question readers actually asked.
Build your own version
Write your decisions below. The examples show the level of detail to aim for; your answers start blank.
Why may this group receive the email?
Recorded sign-up to Example Travel's cruise email updates.
What will the reader compare better?
The whole cruise cost, including relevant extras.
Where does the primary link lead?
example.com/cruise-comparison-guide.
Who will handle specific sailing questions?
Sam monitors the reply inbox during the working day.
Which evidence will inform another email?
Useful replies, suitable enquiries, opt-outs and eventual bookings.
Your worksheet answers stay on this page. They are not submitted or saved automatically. Download a copy before leaving.
Examples and copyable assets
Use the examples and templates as starting material. Replace the fictional details with your own accurate offer and business information.
The email's cruise comparison page
Illustrative guide page reached from the cruise email.
Make your first cruise easier to compare
1Look beyond the headline fare.
Put the options side by side and ask the same questions about each. The right choice depends on the trip you want and the extras you will use.
Which drinks, dining choices and gratuities are included in this fare?
What would your preferred excursions or independent plans add to the total?
Compare flights, transfers and any overnight stay alongside the sailing itself.
- 1Keep the promise
The visitor immediately sees the same comparison topic as the email.
- 2Explain the decisions
The page expands the advice without making universal claims about cruise inclusions.
- 3Invite specific help
The enquiry is a natural continuation: comparing the reader's actual options.
Ship photograph in Brazil by Charles Assuncao / Unsplash. Photograph is illustrative, not a specific advertised trip.
Your first cruise: what should you compare?
A lower headline fare does not always mean the same holiday costs less. Before comparing cruises, check what each fare includes and which extras matter to you. Our guide explains the questions worth asking, with a simple checklist you can use alongside your quotes. Read the cruise comparison guide: [link]. If you would like help comparing specific options, reply and tell us what you are considering.
You are receiving [Agency]’s cruise emails because [accurate reason]. Update your preferences: [link]. Unsubscribe: [link].
Review what happens
Agree what the evidence will change before you launch or share your work.
- If you see thisThe contact basis is unclear.
- Do this nextExclude the affected records and improve future sign-up; do not send a broadcast to discover who objects.
- If you see thisReaders click but find the guide unhelpful.
- Do this nextImprove the comparison and enquiry route before increasing email frequency.
- If you see thisReaders ask similar cabin questions.
- Do this nextMake that the next useful topic for the relevant permitted audience.
Ready to use?
Keep your worksheet and finished assets together. Set the first review date before marking this workshop complete.
Checklist ticks and completion are saved in this browser. Worksheet answers are not saved automatically.
Sources and updates
Platform and policy guidance reviewed 20 October 2026. Check the official guidance before launch; features and rules can change. The fictional examples show a method, not promised results.