By John Roberts
Marine Communications Partner has an ambitious plan to help foster a “micro-community” within a cruise ship.
MCP’s VAVE technology uses a ship’s GSM signal (used for cellular networks) and Wi-Fi network to generate a shipwide “cloud,” which passengers can access to view a broad range of information on their mobile devices or laptops anywhere on the ship, says Ole-Kristian Sivertsen, MCP’s senior vice president of business innovation. Sivertsen spoke about the company’s new platform in an exclusive interview with Cruise Business Review at Cruise Shipping Miami.
The technology allows lines to develop their own apps that can be loaded onto passengers’ smartphones, tablets and other devices before the cruise starts or once onboard. Then, they could gain access to the ship’s daily program, map, menus, folios and excursions, for example. Also, TV programming and on-demand movies available onboard in staterooms could be streamed to the devices instead. Passengers could use the app to stay in touch on the ship, allowing them to swap information and socialize.
MCP has had a relationship with cruise lines for more than a decade providing technology for cellphone service, but VAVE (value added voyage experience) is a leap forward and bridges a gap in how the modern traveler behaves on land but has not yet been able to when on a cruise vacation.
VAVE is a “business-enablement platform” for cruise lines “to enrich the experience and attract millennials to be able to use the tech that they were brought up on,” Sivertsen said.
The platform can be customized depending on each line’s strategy. Revenue opportunities exist in multiple forms, Sivertsen said. Cruise lines could charge passengers for accessing the service, but ideally the platform and any app a line develops on it would support existing revenue channels such as booking for specialty dining, massages, excursions and the like while also gathering information about the cruisers’ behavior so that targeted messages can be delivered. For example, if a specialty eatery has low bookings for a particular evening, a message could be sent out offering a discount rate. Or the ship could promote its onboard shopping.
Once the user has loaded the cruise line’s app onto a device, it can act as a way for the line to continue to deliver messages to the consumer – even when the cruise is over -- in a bid to build brand loyalty, Sivertsen said.
MCP also points to possible cost savings with VAVE. Printing expenses, for example, can be reduced for passengers who opt to receive their daily programs on their devices instead of delivered to their cabins.
Sivertsen said MCP has had a successful test of the VAVE system, which requires installation of a platform engine onboard, on the Mega Express Five, a 1,800-passenger Corsica Sardinia Ferry that runs eight- to 12-hour cruises between Nice, France, and Bastia, Corsica. Sivertsen said the pilot program was successful and a commercial contract with the company will be announced. Also, Sivertsen said MCP is in talks with a major cruise line that is interested in the VAVE service. He declined to name the line.
