Smooth sailing for global cruise line with touchless platform modernization

As the Covid-19 social distancing and safety mandates hit the $45 billion cruise industry, this global cruise line group needed to find a way to stay afloat and operational. Their systems needed to be agile to respond to the expected needs of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which had issued a No-Sail Order, suspending cruise ship passenger operations in the United States. The legacy frameworks needed to be modernized to fulfill the new business needs, and it needed to be done fast.

The systems used across their operations were legacy systems, not flexible models that could be easily scaled. They required a customer-centric approach with systems that ensured adherence to safety protocols and smooth communication capabilities for the comfort of guests.

Contactless customer experience

Ascendion engineers reimagined the passenger experience with safety in mind for a post-pandemic world. We developed a digital, touchless platform with a suite of applications built to enable safety while also creating delightful experiences.

A web application for guest room TVs enabled on-demand hospitality, including pre-booking of meal choices and time-slots for dinner, completely contactless transactions, customer safety and booking applications, and an app for faster grievance redressal.

The guest experience model was recreated and applied across the entire fleet, focusing on safety protocols and smoother communication, while keeping an eye on the future. With robust and highly advanced resources, built using extremely flexible models, the solution was extremely scalable for the anticipated business growth post-pandemic.

Cruising with confidence and efficiency

Ascendion took a legacy platform that was exclusive to certain ships and made it available for all passengers across the entire cruise line’s platforms and systems.

The new digital systems enhanced health safety on the cruise line, simplified safety training, improved customer service, and enhanced crew productivity. The modernized experience helped customers steer their own well-being and improved operational efficiency for the cruise line.

• 35% increase in operational efficiency due to predetermined processes and elimination of manual systems
• 45% increase in ROI as the operations resumed with greater customer satisfaction and increased brand value
• 45% reduced IT and business efforts once legacy systems were optimized and maintenance was cost effective
• 50% reduction in food waste