APPLICATION OF SPATIAL DIMENSION TO CRUISE SEARCH AND CABIN SELECTION

• US 20120179498A1
• Filed: 01/06/2012
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Independent Traveler, Inc. (TripAdvisor, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CruiseWise, Inc. (TripAdvisor, Inc.)
• Inventors: Aharoni, Amit, Meunier, Nicolas
• Granted Patent: US 11,087,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events

Abstract

A user interface that improves the cruise line itinerary research and selection process by integrating an interactive geographical display that is able to display multiple cruise line itineraries thereby reducing the number of page reloads during the user interaction with the user interface. Further, the user interface improves the cruise line cabin selection process by integrating spatial dimension data into cabin search results across cabin types and/or categories.

Claims

1. A cruise line reservation user interface stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the user interface comprising:

a. a list of one or more cruise itineraries; and

b. an interactive map including geographical data associated with the one or more itineraries, wherein the list and the interactive map are concurrently displayed to a user on a webpage when accessing the user interface.

2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein geographical data associated with one of the itineraries is displayed on the interactive map when the user selects the associated itinerary from the list of itineraries.

3. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the user is able to select the associated itinerary by hovering over the associated itinerary on the list with a selection icon.

4. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the geographical data associated with each of the itineraries is able to be selectively displayed on the interactive map without navigating to another webpage.

5. The user interface of claim 4, wherein the geographical data comprises a cruise path corresponding to the associated itinerary and one or more ports along the cruise path.

6. The user interface of claim 5, wherein the user interface displays on the webpage port data associated with one of the ports when the port is selected by the user.

7. The user interface of claim 6, wherein the user is able to select the port by hovering over the port on the interactive map with a selection icon.

8. The user interface of claim 6, wherein the user is able to filter the list of itineraries by port such that only itineraries with cruise paths that intersect the selected one or more ports are shown in the list.

9. The user interface of claim 7 wherein the user is able to filter the list of itineraries by port by hovering over the port on the interactive map with a selection icon.

10. A cruise line reservation user interface stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the user interface comprising:

a. a list of one or more cabins; and

b. an interactive deck map having one or more interactive deck plans that illustrate the one or more cabins on each deck, wherein the list and the interactive deck map are concurrently displayed to a user on a webpage when accessing the user interface.

11. The user interface of claim 10, wherein the deck plan associated with each of the cabins within the list is able to be selectively displayed on the interactive deck map without navigating to another webpage.

12. The user interface of claim 11, wherein the user is able to select the associated deck plan by hovering over the associated deck plan on the list with a selection icon.

13. The user interface of claim 10, wherein two or more of the deck plans are displayed simultaneously to the user within the deck map.

14. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the simultaneously displayed deck plans are displayed three-dimensionally such that the deck plans are positioned on top of one another.

15. The user interface of claim 14, wherein spatial relationship data associated with one of the cabins is displayed on the interactive deck map when the user selects the associated cabin from the list of cabins.

16. The user interface of claim 15, wherein when the user selects a cabin from the list of cabins, some or all of the other cabins displayed within the interactive deck map are highlighted if the other cabins share one or more characteristics with the selected cabin.

17. The user interface of claim 16, wherein the user is able to select a cabin by hovering over the cabin on the list or the cabin on the interactive deck map with a selection icon.

18. The user interface of claim 17, wherein the spatial relationship data comprises distances and/or directions between the associated cabin and other cabins or public areas within the deck plans.

19. The user interface of claim 18, further comprising a virtual shopping cart that is concurrently displayed with the interactive deck map and list, wherein without navigating to another webpage the user is able to save one or more cabins within the virtual shopping cart by selecting and inserting the cabins into the virtual shopping cart on the webpage.

20. The user interface of claim 19, wherein the user is able to filter the list of cabins by proximity such that only cabins with locations within a specified distance of a selected cabin are shown in the list.

21. The user interface of claim 20, wherein each of the deck plans show all the cabins located on that deck when displayed on the interactive deck map.

22. A method of implementing a cruise line reservation user interface, the method comprising concurrently displaying to a user on a webpage a list of one or more cruise itineraries and an interactive map including geographical data associated with the one or more itineraries.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising displaying geographical data associated with one of the itineraries on the interactive map when the user selects the associated itinerary from the list of itineraries.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising hovering over the associated itinerary on the list with a selection icon to select the associated itinerary.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the geographical data associated with each of the itineraries is able to be selectively displayed on the interactive map without navigating to another webpage.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the geographical data comprises a cruise path corresponding to the associated itinerary and one or more ports along the cruise path.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising displaying on the webpage port data associated with one of the ports when the port is selected by the user.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising selecting the port by hovering over the port on the interactive map with a selection icon.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising filtering the list of itineraries by port such that only itineraries with cruise paths that intersect the selected one or more ports are shown in the list.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising selecting a port by hovering over the port on the interactive map with a selection icon in order to filter the list of itineraries by port.

31. A method of implementing a cruise line reservation user interface, the method comprising concurrently displaying to a user on a webpage a list of one or more cabins and an interactive deck map having one or more interactive deck plans that illustrate the one or more cabins on each deck.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising selectively displaying on the interactive deck map the deck plan associated with each of the cabins within the list without navigating to another webpage.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising selecting the associated deck plan by hovering over the associated deck plan on the list with a selection icon.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising simultaneously displaying two or more of the deck plans to the user within the deck map.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the simultaneously displayed deck plans are displayed three-dimensionally such that the deck plans are positioned on top of one another.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising displaying spatial relationship data associated with one of the cabins on the interactive deck map when the user selects the associated cabin from the list of cabins.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising, when the user selects a cabin from the list of cabins, highlighting some or all of the other cabins displayed within the interactive deck map if the other cabins share one or more characteristics with the selected cabin.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising selecting a cabin by hovering over the cabin on the list or the cabin on the interactive deck map with a selection icon.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the spatial relationship data comprises distances and/or directions between the associated cabin and other cabins or public areas within the deck plans.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising concurrently displaying a virtual shopping cart with the interactive deck map and list, wherein without navigating to another webpage the user is able to save one or more cabins within the virtual shopping cart by selecting and inserting the cabins into the virtual shopping cart on the webpage.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising filtering the list of cabins by proximity such that only cabins with locations within a specified distance of a selected cabin are shown in the list.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein each of the deck plans show all the cabins located on that deck when displayed on the interactive deck map.