Hallmark is now in the cruise business, filling a mega-boat with its stars. Allister Foster for Hallmark Media Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment When Hallmark was founded 115 years ago, it was purely in the card business. Now, of course, Hallmark is the giant of the space, with cards for every holiday or life event you can imagine. The company expanded into entertainment in the mid-to-late 1990s, first with Hallmark Entertainment, and later with Hallmark Channel, bringing its ethos to an entirely new line of business. But the company has, quietly, leveraged that media business into what Hallmark chief brand officer Darren Abbott describes as something of a third pillar: Experiences. Related Stories TV 'Virgin River' Star Benjamin Hollingsworth Is Done Playing a Bad Boy Movies 'Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story' Trailer Sees Hunter King, Tyler Hynes Spark Romance Hallmark is now in the cruise business, filling mega-boat with its stars, with waitlists in the tens of thousands. It turned its Kansas City headquarters into a Christmas experience with musical performances, shops and tee lightings. And there is more to come, leveraging the heartwearming and family-friendly things that define Hallmark the brand with the familiar faces of Hallmark the media company. "We've been on a bit of a journey over the last couple years to really connect those two business units [cards and media] together,aAnd one of the things that we got to thinking about was this intersection of the fandom around all of this," Abbott says. "What could we do to create, essentially, an experiences business around that, to move from making things and making movies to a third leg of the stool, which is the experiences. And that's actually how we think about the business right now, it's about product, it's about content and it's about experiences, and that's how we're sort of defining the three aspects of the brand." "Not all brands have permission, if you will, from their audience or from their consumers, to get into this space," he adds. "But I think because Hallmark has always been a storytelling brand, it makes sense for us to bring these stories to life in real life." Nikki DeLoach knows a thing or two about that. The actress has starred in dozens of projects for Hallmark Channel, but in 2019 the company hosted what it called a "Christmas Convention," an event where Hallmark Channel fans could meet many of the stars of their movies. "I had never done a convention, most of us had never done one, we certainly hadn't done a Christmas convention" DeLoach recalls. "We didn't know what to expect, and I will never forget stepping out onto that floor and seeing the thousands of fans cheering and so excited, and we listened to their stories one by one about how our movies got them through cancer treatments, loss, grief, divorce, heartache, all of these things. There was this moment where I kind of realized, 'wow, we need to be doing this more.'" Hallmark took that cue. In 2024 it debuted its next major push into experiences, with its first ever Hallmark-branded cruise, and the Hallmark Christmas Experience in the Crown Center in Kansas City. Both experiences were built around letting Hallmark fans live and breath Hallmark, with plenty of familiar talent, games, shopping, and other elements. "I think there's a component here where we have this great family of actors and talent that we use over and over again in our movies, and we've heard from our consumers, we've heard from the audience, they would love to experience the movies in real life," Abbott says. "That's where the genesis of most of this came from, and I think we're really just getting started in this space." The 2024 cruise sold out almost instantly, with tens of thousands of people putting their names on the waitlist. The 2025 cruise doubled in size, with DeLoach noting that they also ramped up the programming on the boat, which sailed from Miami to Cozumel last month, with shows, comedy, shopping and other activations. "This year we did something very different, which was we had an actual variety show on the boat, so full performances, choreography, harmonies, all of it," DeLoach says. "Every single year, whatever it is that we do, we aim to do something different and bring more to our fans. "I will say I have worked for MTV, ABC, FOX, CBS, I've worked for all of these different networks," she added. "I've never experienced anything like it, the connection, the unique opportunity that we specifically get to have with our fans." Hallmark Media now hosts the "Hallmark Christmas Experience." Hallmark Media / photographer Matt Hoover The Christmas event in Kansas City, similarly, let's visitors immerse themselves in a scene straight out of a Hallmark movie. "You get to walk around, there's tons