An End-to-End Cruise
Communications Strategy:
Reimagining the Guest Experience
Revolutionise your guest experience with an end-to-end
digital-led communications solution purposely built for the
travel industry that goes beyond booking and billing.
Revolutionise your guest experience with an end-to-end digital-led communications solution purposely built for the travel industry that goes beyond booking and billing.
A cruise is an experience like no other. And it seems an ever-increasing number of people are ready to get on-board: according to our industry body, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), with passenger volume expected to surpass 2019 levels by the end of 2023.
The quality of guest communications will similarly surpass 2019 levels for these upcoming travellers. If there’s one thing the industry has learnt it’s that when it comes to keeping guests informed, digital communications have proven to be efficient when everything is running smoothly, and absolutely invaluable when unexpected disruption occurs.
In this article, we look at the five major and equally-important stages of the guest journey – from post-booking to embarkation, on-board, disembarkation, through to post-voyage. We’ll focus on how exemplary communications can maximise your guests’ enjoyment, ease any concerns and streamline their entire cruise experience.
Building Post-Booking Excitement
Recent research has shown that travellers experience the biggest “travel high” at the point of booking. With that in mind, it’s imperative for any travel operator finds a way to extend this feeling through the sometimes lengthy period between booking and travel.
Excitement can be woven into informational communications. By using TravelComms to send informational emails that evoke your brand’s quality – packed with inspirational photography and highly personalised to your guest – you can cut through the background noise. By prompting guests to book on-board experiences and on-shore excursions, you are helping them ride that “travel high” through a completely immersive communications journey.
Post-Booking - Guest Concerns and Simple Solutions
How can I get the best our of my cruise experience?
Where’s the best place to go to get answers to my questions?
Share recent and relevant guest feedback.
Provide factual and timely updates to any guest questions.
Expediting Embarkation
Like any port – whether it be air or sea – the embarkation process creates visions of crowds and numerous points of interaction. Passports, tickets, and security are essential checks needed for transit to and from most countries. This can cause stress for some travellers and merely a frustrating sense of inefficiency for others.
The business case for digital passes replacing traditional paper ones has never been greater. But while airlines have been using these for many years, they are a relatively new feature on many cruise ships.
A digital embarkation pack for each guest or party includes their digital boarding pass. The pack can also confirm embarkation times and procedures, along with guests’ necessary documentation, to help ensure they arrive on time and are ready to board. The TravelComms digital embarkation pack removes the stress and delay of embarkation, ensuring your guests have the right documents at their fingertips and creating a more enjoyable embarkation experience for guests and crew.
A track and trace solution can also be employed to monitor guests who leave the ship for an on-shore experience, ensuring you have a list of passengers on board updated in real-time. You can even use location services to inform guests as they approach a port, so they’re ready to leave the ship in good time for their on-shore experience.
Embarkation - Guest Concerns and Simple Solutions
Are there any specific embarkation procedures?
What will be required for embarkation?
Confirm embarkation times and process.
Provide electronic embarkation passes.
Maintaining Smooth Sailing On-Board
Once on-board, digital signage provides guests with real-time information regarding their journey and entertainment and dining options available to them. Likewise in their cabins, they will be reminded by their welcome pack, signage, and via the in-cabin television.
Integrating with the ship PMS, TravelComms can deliver important guest confirmations, reminders and updates. These can be via email, SMS, Push notifications to mobile apps, or in-cabin entertainment systems, enabling you to use the most accessible and cost-effective channel for you and your guests.
Whether it relates to restaurant bookings, spa appointments, or other on-board products or services, each guest can be proactively assisted to prevent queuing and ensure a smooth and relaxing on-board experience.
On-Board - Guest Concerns and Simple Solutions
What happens with my on-board bookings?
What happens with my shore excursions?
Confirm on-board bookings, timings and location details.
Confirm shore excursion bookings, timings and arrangements.
Drama-free Disembarkation
With disembarkation being the final stage of the guest’s voyage its importance is critical. Having guests leave the ship happy can mean a rebooking within days (or hours!) of disembarkation, while a recommendation to others is worth its weight in marketing gold.
Like the embarkation stage, TravelComms can issue the required digital passes and notify each guest (or party) of their disembarkation to manage the process in a controlled way. Guests will therefore be able to pack more leisurely and enjoy their final time on-board without unnecessary stress and worry.
Disembarkation - Guest Concerns and Simple Solutions
What are the embarkation procedures?
What will be required for embarkation?
Confirm disembarkation times and process.
Provide electronic disembarkation passes.
Capturing Post-Voyage Feedback
Customer communication shouldn’t stop just because the guest’s voyage is over. While their journey may have ended, yours hasn’t.
Following up with a scheduled Welcome Home email, TravelComms can manage the entire feedback process. With an email linking to TravelComms-generated Customer Service Questionnaires (CSQ’s) that is personalised to each guest, you can send gentle reminders to help you capture what’s needed to monitor your Net Promoter Score (NPS) without manual processing. And by intelligently reviewing the submissions, TravelComms can automatically store positive feedback for review and reuse while routing any negative comments to your Customer Services team to follow up and action.
Taking this full circle, with TravelComms managing the entire communications journey, you can then reuse the positive feedback and convince potential new cruisers with up-to-date post-voyage feedback. Sharing reviews from a previous guest from the same geographical location or with the sames demographics, such as sending a review from a parent extolling the virtues of the kids club to a new customer who also has children.
Post-Voyage - Guest Concerns and Simple Solutions
How could the experience be improved?
Will my feedback be shared with others?
Capture guest experience feedback.
Gain approval to reuse guest feedback.
Keeping your guests informed with updated, accurate information doesn’t need to be complicated. To excite and inform your guests with automated and fully personalised communications, contact our team for a customised demonstration.
Ready to imagine your guest experience?
Contact our team for a free demo tailored and branded for your business.