As 24/7 voice and data connectivity has become a cultural expectation, cruise lines have innovated within the difficult constraints of their operating environment, producing solutions that enhance the consumer experience and drive brand penetration.

1. The Rise of
the New
Connected
Cruise
As 24/7 voice and data connectivity has
become a cultural expectation, cruise lines
-
straints of their operating environment, pro-
ducing solutions that enhance the consumer
experience and drive brand penetration.
SKIFT REPORT #15
2014
This material is protected by copyright.
Unauthorized redistribution, including email
forwarding, is a violation of federal law.
Single-use copy only.
If you require multiple copies, contact us at
trends@skift.com.WWW.SKIFT.COM

2. Get the twice-monthly Skift Trends Report for the latest intelligence
on the travel industry.
Each edition in our new series of reports will brief you on a specific
trend, providing insight into the current state of the market, the con-
text around the trend, and where the industry is heading in the near
future.
After you subscribe, you will receive 24 reports direct to your inbox for
an entire year. Reports are delivered as a downloadable PDF. Subscrib-
ers also receive access to our archive.
For any comments or questions, email us: trends@skift.com.
Subscribe and check previous reports at: Skift.com/travel-trends.
Subscribers have access to the Trends Report archives for the issues
covered in his or her subscription
Subscribe to the Skift
Trends Report

3. Table of contents
Skift is a travel intel-
ligence company that
services to professionals
in travel and professional
travelers, to help them
make smart decisions
about travel.
Skift is the business of
travel.
Visit skift.com for more.
3
4
6
A Chicken in Every Pot, a Smartphone in Every Pocket 7
Connectivity in an Unconnected Environment 7
Building Speed, Building Brand 9
11
12
Disney’s Pay-per-Megabyte Solution 13
14
16
Norwegian’s iConcierge 16
Costa’s My Costa Mobile 17
Royal Caribbean’s Royal Connect 17
Disney’s Wave Phones 18
Interactive Onboard Media 18
19
21
The Rise of the New Connected Cruise SKIFT REPORT #15 2014
5

4. Water, water everywhere . . . and not a cell tower in sight.
For cruise lines, the past 15 years have been a period of constant
evolution around customer-facing communications and informa-
tion technologies. Rapid advances in hardware and software have
coupled with light-speed consumer adoption of these technologies
to produce a wholesale cultural paradigm shift: from a pay phone in
every neighborhood to a smartphone in every pocket, in the blink
of an historical eye. Where travelers once boarded cruise ships with
the expectation of complete communications blackout from their
daily lives, they now board with the expectation of total 24/7 con-
nectivity — nevermind that they’re bobbing on the ocean, hundreds
of miles beyond range of the nearest networks.
Executive summary
The Rise of the New Connected Cruise SKIFT REPORT #15 2014
3

5. To meet customer expectations and drive brand penetration, cruise
lines and their third-party service providers are innovating commu-
nications and information technologies within a set of constraints
that have no parallel in the land-based resort business.
They’re pushing beyond the traditional satellite-based systems that
have long limited connectivity and bandwidth at sea. They’re de-
veloping mobile applications that facilitate easy communication
between guests on today’s plus-size ships. They’re deploying pat-
tern and shape recognition technologies to measure the crowds at
restaurants and other onboard venues, then beaming that informa-
tion to guests via interactive signage around the ship. And they’re
leveraging the phenomenal penetration of mobile devices among
guests to bring new information, entertainment, and sales solutions
online without the need for multi-million dollar refits of existing
vessels.
For cruise lines, today’s customer-facing IT landscape is tightrope
walk between satisfying guest expectations, maintaining sustain-
able return on investment, predicting future trends and consumer
demands, and finding workarounds to one of the most challenging
communications environments faced by any of the world’s indus-
tries. The payoff? Happy customers equipped to broadcast their
happiness to the world.
Introduction
The Rise of the New Connected Cruise SKIFT REPORT #15 2014
4