The Silent Saboteur of Cruise Ship ExcellenceThe Silent Saboteur of Cruise Ship Excellence

But amidst the grandeur, a hidden saboteur lurks, capable of undermining the guest experience and the operator’s reputation: the failure of battery-operated devices.

The Backbone of Guest Experience: Battery-Powered Devices

Cruise ships rely on an astonishing number of battery-powered devices to deliver their promise of excellence. At any given time, a single ship has in average 40,000 batteries on board powering devices, ranging from cabin door locks and safes to bathroom devices like paper or soap dispensers.

These devices perform critical functions that are invisible to guests when they work seamlessly but glaringly apparent when they fail. Despite their importance, these devices remain largely unmanaged, leading to significant operational challenges.

The Overlooked Problem: Battery Failures and Their Impact

From our audits of cruise ships, a troubling trend has emerged: ships lack robust systems to monitor the performance of battery-operated devices. This oversight forces operators into one of two inefficient approaches:

In a recent pilot, proactive replacements were found to discard batteries with up to 70% of their power still unused. Scale this practice to a cruise ship with 40,000 batteries onboard, and the environmental and

financial waste becomes untenable.

2.Reactive, but Disruptive
Some operators let devices fail, only addressing issues as they arise. This approach can lead to scenarios like guests being locked out of their cabins because of a dead door lock battery. Resolving such an issue

can take 45 minutes or even more, leaving guests frustrated and tarnishing the seamless experience operators strive to deliver.

These failures are anything but minor—they can have a major impact on guest satisfaction and operations. As cruise line operators know all too well, even a single disruption can escalate into a significant issue, overshadowing the otherwise exceptional experiences passengers expect and demand.

The Cost of Failure

Battery-related failures are not just operational hiccups— they come with significant financial, environmental, and reputational costs.

The Magnitude of the Problem

Cruise lines monitor every operational detail with precision, from fuel reserves to fresh water supplies. Yet, when it comes to the nearly 2 million battery-operated devices powered by 10 million batteries currently onboard ships, there is little to no data about their status or remaining lifespan.

This lack of visibility creates an operational blind spot. These “dumb” devices can fail unexpectedly, disrupting operations and guest satisfaction. Alternatively, the conservative battery replacement approach leads to staggering waste.

Why This Matters: The Importance of Guest Satisfaction

Guest satisfaction is the lifeblood of the cruise industry. Operators spend millions perfecting onboard experiences, yet a single failure—like a dead door lock battery that leaves a guest locked out of their cabin—can undo all that effort.

Guests won’t differentiate between the failure of a device and the cruise line’s responsibility. In their eyes, a frustrating experience is a failure of the operator, not the technology. In an age of online reviews, these frustrations are often amplified, creating a ripple effect of negative publicity.

As a trusted partner to the cruise industry, Procell has witnessed firsthand how these avoidable issues can erode guest trust and operator reputation.

Enter Procell InSite: A Smarter Solution

To address these challenges, Procell developed Procell InSite, a wireless device management platform designed to transform how cruise operators manage their battery-powered devices.

How Procell InSite Solves the Problem

Waste Reduction: For example, a typical cruise ship with 40,000 batteries onboard can see a drastic reduction in unnecessary replacements, eliminating the waste generated by discarding batteries with up to 70% of their power still unused. Additionally, Procell InSite offers a closed-loop system of battery collection and recycling, further reducing environmental impact by ensuring that spent batteries are properly recycled and not sent to landfills. Across a fleet of 50 ships with 3,000 cabins each, operators could reduce battery waste by tens of thousands of pounds annually*, contributing significantly to sustainability goals.

The operational benefits are equally impressive:

Labor Savings and Operational Efficiency: By reducing routine battery replacements by 20-40%, cruise lines can save tens of thousands of labor hours annually*, valued at more than $1.8 million. These saved hours allow staff to focus on more strategic and value-added tasks, such as enhancing guest experiences, improving operational workflows, and addressing other high-priority responsibilities.

These gains underscore how Procell InSite transforms battery management, turning a pain point into a source of operational, environmental, and financial value.

The ROI You Can Expect

Procell InSite isn’t just a solution—it’s an investment with transformative returns. For the average cruise ship with 3,000 cabins, InSite delivers an estimated 10-12X ROI*.

When scaled across a fleet, the benefits multiply exponentially:

Procell InSite: Empowering Cruise Operators

The cruise industry is entering an era where sustainability, efficiency, and guest satisfaction are more important than ever. Procell InSite provides the data-driven insights operators need to rise above operational inefficiencies and deliver exceptional guest experiences.

By addressing the silent saboteur of battery failures, Procell InSite ensures cruise operators can focus on what they do best—creating unforgettable journeys for their guests.

Why let something as small as a battery undo the incredible work that goes into creating the perfect cruise experience?

To learn more about how Procell InSite can transform your operations, visit Procell’s website and contact us today.

*Values based on an estimated calculation for an average 50 ship fleet with 3,000 cabins each. The results will vary based on specific devices, usage habits, current batteries used, conditions, wages, and commercial maintenance schedules.