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5 Tech Trends that Transform Cruise Ships into Smart Cities

Aug 30, 2019

The plethora of cruise-ship innovations over the last several years has resulted in passenger experiences that are more efficient – and just plain fun. Providing passengers a highly personalized cruise experience both on and off the ship, cruise lines are adopting technology to augment workflows like remote check-in, digital waivers, and passenger payments. Technology is transforming these floating hotels into smart cities.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, has released the 2019 Cruise Trends and State of the Cruise Industry Outlook. The report looks at the trends impacting cruise travel in the coming year and beyond as well as the overall global economic impact. Today we share a few highlights:

  1. Remote Check-in – on many ships, passenger profiles can be managed via online check-in, including photos and payment methods.
  2. Digital Waivers – at check-in, passengers can avoid long check-in queues by booking excursions and other activities during their check-in, and eliminate paper records by signing waivers electronically.
  3. Smart Dinner Reservations – waiting in a queue to be seated at dinner is no longer a constraint with a 24-hour app that lets passengers reserve a table. Also, passenger profile data inform servers about food preferences and allergies.
  4. Geolocation-based Mobile Ordering – passengers can order a drink from the bar without being at or near the bar. A server will arrive soon after, beverage in hand, having found the passenger using geo-location features in the mobile ordering
  5. Wearable Tech – an RFID bracelet that replaces key cards will let passengers quickly pay for purchases and gain access to their cabins.

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