The Scenario
European Cruise Service has been the main provider of cruise services for foreign cruise ships calling Norwegian ports and fjords for more than 160 years. Currently they operate in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland and Russia. Their wide variety of shore excursions gives each guest the opportunity to enrich their cruise vacation and make each port and excursion something to remember fondly.
The Opportunity
Cruise ship passengers have high expectations of their experience whilst in each port visited by their vessel. Given that cruise ships typically handle larger numbers of passengers, the task of local guides to effectively manage such quantities of passengers is not always straightforward, as noise pollution can easily ruin the passenger experience. The ESC’s top priority is in fact the individuality of each passenger’s experience. On guided tours it’s crucially important for each guest to hear every word of the guide’s commentary whilst having the freedom to enjoy a moment of their trip by taking photos or pausing to take a closer look at indicated spots.
The Solution
European Cruise Service decided to offer Vox’s tour guide systems as a solution to the tour guides’ ever-increasing difficulties and to match their clients’ expectations of evermore enriched experiences. Their client Princess Cruises was the first to benefit from the introduction of Vox Tour Guides for their passengers. They carried out a port call in Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney archipelago in Northern Scotland with a shore excursion of over 900 people. Princess Cruises and ECS adopted the Vox Tour Guide System ensuring crystal clear audio, confident that every guest would hear the words of their guide. To achieve this, Vox coordinated the timely delivery of sufficient systems from London all the way to Aberdeen then by ship to the Orkney Islands.
The Result
With guides speaking into a Vox transmitter pre-set to its own unique frequency, voice commentary was clearly heard by passengers within a 200-metre radius, allowing each tour to flow in a fluid motion and removing the need for the guides to raise their voice. Princess Cruises and their passengers were highly satisfied with their Kirkwall experience. With this increase in customer satisfaction Prince Cruises decided to include Vox Tour Guide Systems in their 2018 UK programme. European Cruise Service now have included the Vox Tour Guide System as an inexpensive, added-value option to complement any future client shore excursion programmes.
