Connected Cruisers Share the Love

Imagine trying to hit a constantly moving target from 23,000 miles away. That’s essentially what the cruise industry is challenged with when trying to provide fast, reliable onboard Wi-Fi. To deliver bandwidth, the satellites (orbiting 23,000 miles overhead) have to connect with the ship while it moves through the ocean - not a simple task.

For guests this is a problem when they want to connect with their ashore family and friends and the ships certainly share this frustration. You want passengers to be able to post pictures and brag about their trip as it happens, not wait until they are home. Bill Martin, VP and CIO at Royal Caribbean, explains, “People don’t want to either pay the price or share it when they get back home, because that’s too late. In this real-time, right-now world, seven days after it happened is ancient history.”

By catching people in the moment, you open up a major opportunity to be the focus point of the fun, new experience they can’t (and won’t) wait to share.

“Cruise lines see a potential goldmine in giving their guests the ability to share photos and video from shipboard via social media – in the moment and mid-fun, their expressions and body language broadcasting to friends and acquaintances an implicit, priceless endorsement of the cruise line’s brand promise.” - Vincent Cirel, Senior VP and CIO at Norwegian Cruise Line

With more than 85% of passengers showing up with a smartphone and/or tablet, it is time to ease their cruising connectivity pains, while reaping the priceless benefits of Instagram and Facebook “Likes.”

Curious about more trends? Check out The Rise of the New Connected Cruise by Skift and Royal Caribbean’s new Internet technology.

How do you encourage your guests to engage with you on social?