With over 3,500 passengers on board, I was impressed with how well the Royal Caribbean crew managed the demands for service throughout our 7-day cruise in the Bahamas. The cabin attendants, chefs, waiters, and staff seemed to work around the clock. On days that we were at sea, the public areas were crowded. As expected, line-ups were inevitable.
On this day, I was waiting in line to inquire about the next port. The excursions offered were not very interesting and my family was considering exploring the town on our own. The questions I had were straightforward: how far was the dock from town; was there any shuttle bus to take passengers to town; would the walk to town be pleasant? I stood in the queue for ten minutes. Then, a queue attendant came by, with a bag of chocolates in his hand, asked what information I was looking for. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to answer my questions and directed me to a different queue. At that point, I was getting impatient.
The questions I had should be addressable by any staff. The cruise itinerary is not new and this ship has docked at each port many times. Many cruise staff would have visited the towns. How come the information is not available? Numerous people I spoke with while I stood in line had the same questions.
The solution is simple:
- List the common questions cruise passengers have
- Assign the task to a staff to seek answers
- Compile the information, educate all staff, make it available on cabin TV and daily trip planner
This requires little effort but produces numerous benefits:
- Happy passengers-no need to wait in line to speak to designated staff
- More relaxed staff-less anxiety, have shorter queues to manage
- Increased revenue-passenges have more time for other activities on board, e.g., spa, shopping, gambling
- Elevated brand-outstanding passenger experience speaks for itself and serves to promote brand
For your business, identify nuisances that annoy your customers. You will be nicely surprised that it doesn’t take much effort to get rid of them and you can turn them into positive customer experiences.
© Connie Siu 2012. All rights reserved.
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