Cruises have captured the hearts of holidaymakers for over 120 years. The continuous advancements in cruise ship innovation, including cruise ship digital signage, have increasingly made cruises the go-to choice for holidaymakers wanting to visit several destinations in one trip.
With many liners increasing in size, efficient communication has become a hot topic when discussing onboard satisfaction and cruise ship innovation. Taking steps to ensure that passengers can efficiently and safely engage with the ship can enhance the customer experience.
Various forms of signage have been used throughout the 20th century on cruise ships. With cruise ship capacity more than doubling in the last 100 years, one of the more recent developments is cruise ship digital signage.
From improving ship navigation to passenger safety, this blog reveals how cruise ships are catching the drift with the digital signage wave. Here are 5 ways to revamp on-board communication with cruise ship digital signage.
1. Improve Onboard Navigation with Cruise Ship Digital Signage
A focus on efficient navigation is at the forefront of cruise ship innovation. Despite this, many ships still use traditional back-lit maps to help passengers navigate the vessel. This form of wayfinding has numerous limitations, such as vague directions, small icons, and difficulty updating.
Cruise ship digital signage has, therefore, become a valuable tool for internal navigation. Digital wayfinding on electronic touchscreen signage or digital kiosks has revolutionised cruise ship navigation, providing detailed maps, area selection capabilities, and personalised routes.
Once onboard the ship, the first thing passengers do is find their rooms. After this, children are often eager to find an activity hub whilst parents the nearest bar! With touchscreen capabilities and easy-to-read maps, cruise ship digital wayfinding allows people of all ages to navigate the ship.
Moreover, if updates to navigation are needed, for example, room closures, these changes can be immediately displayed on-screen using digital signage software, improving operations and customer experience.
Efficient navigation is also critical for passenger safety. Initial safety briefings often require passengers to locate their nearest muster station and learn what to do in an emergency. Though it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of a cruise, digital wayfinding combined with personal printed maps ensures passengers can act appropriately in an emergency. Significantly, the multi-language functionality of digital signage ensures all passengers understand vital information.
Of note, the Royal Caribbean Cruises ‘Symphony of the Seas‘ has become the largest passenger ship, with a capacity of 5,518 passengers. Strategically placed digital wayfinding is, therefore, necessary to meet guest needs. The Royal Caribbean has, as a result, installed a successful digital signage network to operate their record-breaking ship, seeing many benefits.
2. Optimise Onboard Promtions with Cruise Ship Digital Signage
Alongside ensuring efficient navigation, generating revenue remains a top priority for cruise companies. As a result, many cruise-liners have constructed larger ships to include more activities, products, and services for guests onboard. These developments are not only to satisfy guest desires but also to boost revenue potential.
Digital advertising displays have become a reliable method of promotional marketing and communication. This form of cruise ship digital signage allows advertisements for various shops, activities, and products to be displayed on rotation on a high-brightness screen. These screens turn heads and ensure no passenger misses the latest offers and events on-board.
Cruise ship digital signage outweighs print posters for advertising for numerous reasons. Firstly, update on-screen content immediately via digital signage software instead of manually replacing print posters. For example, if an activity is cancelled or a product goes out of stock. Secondly, promotions for multiple features can be displayed large and bright in one place, rather than numerous posters cluttering wall space. And, thirdly, schedule promotions to display at specific times with ease, for example, an end-of-cruise sale or lunchtime activity. With more customers aware of promotions and what is going on, sales, footfall, and participation will increase.
3. Enhance Passenger Safety Using Cruise Ship Digital Signage
Whilst cruise ship innovation has taken many forms, safety remains the top priority on board. Emergencies can develop quickly and without warning. Consequently, effective communication and live updates are vital in protecting passengers and staff. Safety information posters have their place, but only digital signage can show live content to passengers.
With this in mind, cruise ship digital signage has become an essential tool for communicating safety and emergency information. Prepare this content in advance using digital signage software, ready to display on-screen immediately during a crisis. Crises could include a fire, flooding, engineering failure, or even a pool closure. Alternatively, install automatic triggers in your screens, such as smoke sensors, to activate fire warning and exit content, when necessary.
Additionally, if in an extended crisis, the screens can display live updates via a ship-specific or wider news channel to keep guests updated on the situation.
This fast and efficient communication is key to a successful plan of action in an emergency for passengers and crew members who need to take critical action.
4. Entertain Guests with Multimedia Content
Guests want to be entertained and have the very best experience on their cruise ship holiday. With cruise ship digital signage, guests will be consistently entertained and wowed. This form of entertainment is easy to manage from a central software system, improving onboard operations.
Cruise ship digital signage can entertain guests in various ways and various locations. During the evenings, optimise entertainment and stage productions with graphics and video content displayed on digital signage. This content will create and boost the desired atmosphere. In the ship arcade, add a wow factor to games with added animations on-screen.
During the daytime, use digital signage to support holiday rep activities. For example, in a fitness class, display the instructor live on-screen so people at the back can see or show music videos to hype up passengers. In the kids club areas, use digital signage to entertain the children, for example, displaying how-to video content or cartoons. In chill areas and lounges, why not show live TV to help guests relax.
Due to the multimedia capabilities of digital signage, the possibilities are near limitless on how you can entertain guests to boost their overall experience and create a niche trip to remember.
5. Improve the Dining Experience with Digital Menus
Cruise ships often have multiple eating locations, from the main dining hall to cafes, smaller restaurants, and bars. Revamp communication regarding what is on offer with digital menus. This form of cruise ship digital signage can present menus to guests clearly and attractively.
Outside the main dining hall, a digital menu can present the three-course dinner for that evening. Update this menu digitally with ease daily, saving time by removing the manual task of reprinting and replacing print signage. Moreover, if there is a last-minute change to the menu, update this immediately and neatly.
For low-key eateries, digital menus can help guests see what is on offer in large and clear text. Moreover, for non-inclusive food or drink that requires purchasing, the high-brightness screens and colour-vibrant imagery of food or drink will turn heads. This digital signage, therefore, improves the chances of sales.
If a promotion or offer is live, digital signage is the best method for translating this; research has found that two-thirds of customers have made a purchase they were not originally planning to make because they found a coupon or discount. Cruise ship digital signage and digital menu boards can, therefore, optimise the potential reach of your dining discounts.
If you have any questions related to cruise ship digital signage, speak to an expert today. Call our friendly team on 02380 981110 or Email info@troudigital.com for a no-obligation consultation. Alternatively, click the button below.
