For many, it's the best of everything vacation offers: a luxury cruise to exotic ports, time for pampering, and a chance to try their luck. Cruise ships offer vacationers who love gaming a chance to hit the tables and slot machines during their onboard time. For these customers, rewards play provides valuable offers and perks.
But sometimes, technology causes unexpected turbulence in an otherwise enjoyable ship experience.
In the case of many ship-based casinos, first-time customers struggle with setting up their player card, including creating a PIN and initial funding of their playing experience. The frustration impedes a smooth gaming experience, frustrating customers and worrying staff.
Floor managers know they have a problem.
The longer guests stay at their machine, the more they spend; the ROI is simple. Guests on a busy, active cruise ship are more likely to try another activity if they have a less-than-seamless gaming experience. It happens more than we'd like because many casinos, whether land-based or on the water, leverage outdated technologies that lack intuitive and fun interfaces and offer little in the way of supporting the actual player’s experience.
From our research, it can take a guest up to 4 minutes to begin play with a card and figure out how to fund their experience. After that, the unwieldy user interface is the key issue. Stock software provided by the hardware vendors isn't typically branded to the cruise line, and it lacks personalization.
As a result, the customer grows frustrated from the start. They may even flag someone to help — if they don't give up and try something else first. Given industry staffing shortages, waiting too long for service to arrive is not uncommon. The same wait time occurs if the guest wants a beverage or a machine breaks down. Help is coming, but it often takes more time than the guest is willing to wait.
Most cruise lines struggle with all these challenges and more. Casino managers worry they are losing floor time and revenues to outdated tools that failed the modern digital experience test. Even better, most hosts want to integrate rewards, perks and comps with a dash of personalization — a way to manage the floor while offering guests a more enticing experience that kept them in their seats longer.
How can casinos create a user-friendly experience that keeps guests coming back for more?
Part of the solution is a branded user interface for ship-based casinos’ machines for a more enjoyable setup and rewards experience. On the front end, such a tool creates a user-friendly experience that makes carding in easier, faster, and more fun. Using human-centered design, it eliminates friction that could cause the guest to abandon their game.
The right solution can guide users in ways to keep them playing longer. Each click or screen touch leads to the next interaction.
An upgraded floor management solution can be integrated with the improved machine interface. This includes:
The gaming experience for guests can be wildly different. The card-in process can take less than a minute. It's a personalized, engaging experience. No more waiting for service. The casino team also has a 360-degree view of customer behaviors to optimize floor and asset management. Wait staff can greet customers by name when they bring their drink orders.
Ship-based casinos hae the opportunity to engage everyone in a better casino experience.
When guests do leave, they exit with a smile and are more likely to return. For casino managers, that's a win.
Innovation in casino gaming technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, but at ProfitOptics, we believe that technology alone is insufficient. The marriage of cutting-edge technology with empathetic, human-centered design creates truly groundbreaking customer experiences. Our mission is to leverage this synergy, designing games that aren't just played but are lived, loved, and shared globally.
Is legacy tech impeding your guest experience? Speak with a ProfitOptics casino gaming expert today and start to imagine the future of your business.
