Since the VeriFly secure health data application was first implemented by Carnival Cruise Line in January, more than 1,000,000 guests have taken advantage of this quick and convenient way to enter their pre-cruise health screening information for a smoother riding experience.
VeriFly successfully implemented
Less than eight months after being voluntarily introduced on a single ship, the VeriFly app is now used by more than one million Carnival Cruise Line guests and is available in all of the cruise line’s US home ports and for all ships of the fleet.
“Helping one million people simplify the process of starting their vacation is a huge milestone to achieve, but it’s no surprise that most of our guests have taken to VeriFLY so quickly.” said Ron Dillehay, Carnival’s vice president of guest marketing and technology. “They see the benefit immediately as they save a significant amount of time in port and get on board faster.”
Carnival Cruise Line debuted VeriFly, the free health screening travel documentation app developed by Daon, aboard her ship, the Mardi Gras, on January 22, 2022. This initial use was voluntary, but saw great interest, with 85% of passengers invited to use the app by downloading it.
“For those who successfully uploaded the required information for confirmation, the time of the health screening process was cut in half, significantly speeding up the check-in process.,” Carnival Cruise Line said of that first use.
With such a huge success, the app was it quickly spread throughout the Carnival fleet, making Carnival Cruise Line the largest company to use the technology. The app verifies that a passenger’s pre-sailing health test meets ship and home port requirements and displays a simple pass or fail message.
This alerts visitors to any discrepancies in their screening documents, allowing time for corrections or retesting before they arrive at the cruise port. Once at the terminal, guests can present the VeriFly instead of the shuffled paper to confirm their health screenings.
Now, the app continues to see great success and simplifies the boarding process for passengers on every Carnival cruise.
“We applaud Carnival Cruise Line, the world’s largest cruise vacation company, for leading the industry in achieving the milestone of reaching one million guests using the VeriFLY digital travel app to ensure safe travel and leisure and appropriate.” said Tom Grissen, chief executive officer at Daon.
“Through this partnership, we are enabling Carnival to offer a faster and smoother boarding health screening experience for their guests.”
In addition to Carnival Cruise Line, VeriFly is also used by Dutch America LineSeabourn and Viking Cruises, as well as several airlines and resort and hotel chains.
Visitor comments
In a recent question on his popular Facebook page, Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald asked what guests think about the app’s ease of use and how it affects boarding a cruise.
More than 6,000 guests responded and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with comments such as:
“It’s easy to use and made things go a lot faster on the ride.” – Shand Shuler-Altman
“I want! I have used it on 3 cruises so far and it makes boarding so much faster.” – Jessica Lewis Roberts
“Very easy and we passed the inspection process. I encourage others to use it too!” – Station Deneen
“Absolutely loved it! It worked as it should and took the stress out of testing and the vaccine trial. It simplified the whole process in Miami for us.” – Laurie Whalen
“It was very easy to upload all my documents and boarding was quick and painless. I will definitely be using it every time I cruise from now on!” – Angie Mills Quinn
Some guests report difficulties with the application, such as visitors with very long names that cannot complete the verification process, or problems on different gateways if wireless signals have difficulty connecting.
There were also bugs with the app soon after Carnival Cruise Line changed its testing protocols for short cruisesas it took time for the application to update with the new requirements.
Even if they successfully use the app, guests are encouraged to bring paper copies of all their pre-cruise tests and other health check documentation in case additional verification is needed or if there may be port connection issues.
VeriFly can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play.
