Figure 5. Current Processes

6. Processes and Systems

6.1 Current Processes at Cruise Terminals

This section focuses on the process of embarking and disembarking the cruise ship. The goal is to recognize the systems that passengers interact with and the necessary elements needed to create an end-to-end supply chain network thereby enabling baggage transfer between the cruise ship terminals and the airports.

Figure 5 elaborates the current process starting from the embarkation and ending at disembarkation. Key findings from this analysis are followed: 1. Cruise ports and cruise lines are less digitalized than airports. Therefore, in some scenarios, generic handwritten bag tags are used. 2. The baggage handling and passenger checkin at cruise ports are not automated by using a local system that stores unified information about the passenger, luggage and cruise ship. 3. Information about the baggage, passenger, and ship departure and arrivals is stored in the IT system of cruise lines. The Platform management system (PMS) stores passenger and luggage information. At the same time, the Fleet Management System (FMS) stores real-time data about cruise ship departures, arrivals and delays.

6.2 System of Silos of the supply chain network

In the current setup, the cruise line and airline systems are not integrated. Instead, each system has its own passenger entity linked to the cruise ship and its corresponding arrival and departure times, luggage, and the source and destination cruise port. Similarly, the airline system used by SITA (L-DCS) consists of a separate entity of passengers linked to flight (and its corresponding arrival and departure times), luggage and airport. Both systems are portrayed in Figure 6.

A coherent identity of the passenger is required to facilitate the delivery of baggage from the cruise port to the airport. The cruise line systems must be connected to the airline systems to share information. The system integration will provide