Viking Line has claimed to be the first shipping company operating in the Baltic Sea to introduce digital keys for its ropax cabin doors.
From 27th January, 2020, Viking Line Club members have been able to use the application as a key to their cabin on board ‘Viking XPRS’.
As a pre-condition for use, all passengers included in the booking must be Viking Line Club members.
The aim is to make maritime travel easier, the company said. Customers check in via the Viking Line application and use the QR code received to board the ship and open the cabin door.
A key operated by a mobile application is an environmentally friendly solution, as it reduces the need for cardboard key cards.
“Our customers have been enthusiastic to welcome the new digital keys”, claimed Sten Smeds, Viking Line Project Manager.
‘Viking XPRS’, operating on the Helsinki and Tallinn route, was docked for maintenance between 7th–24th January this year. In addition to the new cabin key system, some of the restaurants of the ship were renewed. For example, ‘The Burgers’ is a brand-new restaurant concept, where the home-made Black Angus burgers are prepared abroad from scratch.
Viking Line renews and updates its fleet continuously and ships are docked for maintenance on average every couple of years. The aim is to develop the ships to meet the wishes of the customers, as well as the changing trends in cruise tourism.
Use of the mobile key system will also be adopted on the new ‘Viking Glory’ that will begin operation in 2021.
“We aim at introducing the mobile keys for cabin doors on all our passenger ships in the next few years. It is, of course, still possible to travel with us using the traditional key cards, since not everyone has the opportunity to utilise smart phones”, Smeds explained.
Passengers can gain access to the mobile key for their own cabin door by logging in to the Viking Line application. The application can be downloaded free of charge on iOS and Android operating systems.
