# How VGV Helped One of the World’s Largest Cruise Lines Use Generative Interfaces to Increase Bookings > See how VGV helped a global cruise line evolve a text-based AI assistant into a visual, generative concierge that moves guests closer to booking. - Source: https://verygood.ventures/success-stories/cruise-line-genui/ - Client: Global cruise line - Industry: Travel & Hospitality - Services: Product Strategy, Experience Design, Generative UI, Dart & Flutter Development --- How VGV Helped One of the World’s Largest Cruise Lines Use Generative Interfaces to Increase Bookings See how VGV helped a global cruise line evolve a text-based AI assistant into a visual, generative concierge that moves guests closer to booking. - **1.00% → 1.08%** Booking conversion, driven by agentic search - **$536M** Estimated ticketing revenue from that lift - **14** Approved catalog items the model can assemble ## At a glance: Charting a new course - **01, The challenge** One of the world’s largest cruise lines had one of the first agentic assistants in cruise. But it answered in long paragraphs and deep-linked guests out of the experience to book. - **02, Our approach** We guided the cruise line through Structured Creativity: user context, a catalog of approved UI components, and prompt rules that enforce behavior and brand voice. We then built a GenUI prototype so the team could experiment with the technology and test latency concerns. - **03, The results** As part of the cruise line’s larger effort to build agentic discovery into its booking flow, booking conversion rose from 1.00% to 1.08%, an estimated $536 million in ticketing revenue. Our work gave the team a governed model for generative UI. ## The challenge: An early agentic leader, still answering in text One of the world’s largest cruise lines moved early. Its AI assistant was one of the first agentic experiences in the cruise industry. Guests could ask rich planning questions and get real answers. The answers were the problem. The assistant replied with long, information-dense paragraphs. When a guest was ready to act, it deep-linked into the existing website, pulling them out of the agentic experience and back into the same multi-step funnel every other guest used. The cruise line wanted to explore how vacation discovery could become more visual. Could an LLM generate UI elements, not just text, that move prospective guests closer to booking? > VGV is leading the charge in how a structured approach can help enterprises embrace GenUI. > > Seth Ladd, Group Product Manager, Google ## Before and after: From a text-only agent to a visual, generative concierge - **Before.** Text-based agent - **After VGV’s design and prototyping work.** VGV envisions a GenUI-empowered discovery flow that uses visual cards, such as ship details and next best actions, to drive booking forward. ## Our approach: Listening before building We started by listening. We met with the cruise line’s engineering, product, and design stakeholders to map constraints and find where GenUI could add value. We reviewed analytics on how the existing assistant flow affected booking conversion, and read real guest conversations to see what people actually ask. We also worked directly with the Flutter team, which gave us early guidance on the Flutter GenUI SDK and a hand in shaping it. ## Structured Creativity: Three domains, one governed system We guided the cruise line’s stakeholders through Structured Creativity, our process for designing GenUI that adapts to each guest without losing the brand. It works through three domains: 1. User context. What user context and data can we collect to shape each response? 2. Catalog. What is the visual catalog of UI components the model is allowed to use? 3. System prompt. What goes into the prompt to guide and enforce behavior and brand voice? - **6** Message archetypes that shape every response ## Catalog: A catalog in the cruise line’s brand, fueled by context The catalog is the set of pieces the model can assemble: destination cards, itinerary groups, ship comparisons, date pickers, step summaries, and more. Each item carries usage instructions, so the brand always looks and sounds like itself. Context decides what to build for each guest. In the POC, it came from chat messages and a context bar that updates from the guest’s first request. Tapping a component writes the guest’s next message, so the conversation keeps moving without typing. ## Architecture: An architecture built for speed Latency was a real concern, so the technical architecture was a key part of the work. We designed GenUI as an agent layer on top of what the cruise line already runs. The existing assistant drafts its response, a GenUI model chooses the layout and catalog items, and the Flutter GenUI SDK renders interactive UI in real time. Because the layer sits beside the assistant’s backend rather than inside it, any of the cruise line’s product teams can plug in the same capability. One Dart and Flutter codebase renders across web, mobile, and kiosk. **Google · Flutter & GenUI collaboration** ## Built alongside the team behind Flutter and GenUI VGV works directly with Google’s Flutter team. On this engagement, that collaboration gave us early guidance on the Flutter GenUI SDK and a hand in shaping it. Google also worked with the cruise line and VGV to uncover and test latency in the prototype. ## The prototype: Prototyping to explore latency issues VGV delivered a working prototype that used GenUI and low-fidelity UI elements as a step toward the cruise line’s ultimate vision. The prototype also helped the cruise line, VGV, and Google uncover latency issues. Some visual responses took up to 30 seconds to arrive from the LLM. As of late 2026, VGV has brought those latency benchmarks under 4 seconds. ## Where this goes next: Beyond booking Booking was the starting point, not the boundary. VGV helped the cruise line conceptualize how the same governed system of system prompt, catalog, and context could shape the rest of the cruise experience, from choosing a sailing to ordering onboard to exploring a port from the cabin. Each concept runs on the same three inputs as the POC. That gives the cruise line one model for adding AI to guest experiences that stays on-brand, governable, and portable across every screen it owns. - **Search that knows you.** Results adapt to past cruises, interests, and the whole travel party. Each result explains why it appears, and guests see a short set of top matches instead of a long list. - **A kiosk that recognizes regulars.** With opt-in recognition, an onboard kiosk filters the menu for dietary needs and surfaces favorites. The layout rebuilds around the guest’s history, and one tap completes the order. - **A cabin window that becomes a guide.** As the ship nears the coast, the window becomes an interactive display. It layers hotspots, wildlife, and excursions over the real view, and a tap starts a booking in the concierge chat. ## Roll credits - **Client:** One of the world’s largest cruise lines - **Services engaged:** [Product Strategy](/our-services/digital-products/), [Experience Design](/our-services/design-systems/), [Generative UI](/our-services/generative-ui/), [Dart & Flutter Development](/our-services/application-development/) - **Worked with:** The Flutter team, Google - **Built with:** Flutter GenUI SDK, Dart and Flutter - **Delivered:** Structured Creativity, A working GenUI prototype