Cruise ship "Color Magic" sailing through foggy winter landscape with snow-covered trees and buildings.

Color Line

Optimizing Reservations, Revenue, and Boarding Efficiency

E-Dea enabled Color Line to optimize its reservation and check-in operations, drive new revenue streams, and enhance customer satisfaction through automated self-service solutions. By addressing the unique business model of combining cruise services with traditional ferry transport, the platform provided a scalable, integrated solution tailored to their needs.

“E-Dea products have a crucial role in our Reservation and Check-in systems. They have proven the capability to support the development of Color Line’s business strategies for the years to come and new revenue optimization models for marketing the products and services the Company provides for.”

Marianne Gade Gørbitz - CIO, Color Line AS

Color Line AS is Norway’s largest and one of Europe’s leading cruise and transport shipping companies.

Operating 6 ships across 4 routes connecting ports in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, Color Line blends:

Traditional ferry transport for passengers and freight.

Cruise operations with hotel, entertainment, and retail services.

The company manages a complex business model, with vessels like MS Color Fantasy and MS Color Magic, which have:

  • The largest car decks in Europe’s cruise fleet.

  • Cabin capacity rivaling major hotels (similar to Europe’s 10th and 13th largest hotels).

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Initial Challenges: 

  • Support a business model combining cruise operations with ferry services. 

  • Optimize revenue management while handling high passenger and vehicle volumes. 

  • Improve the check-in and boarding process to reduce delays and staffing costs. 

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Goals: 

  • Implement a robust reservation and check-in platform to manage daily operations efficiently. 

  • Automate check-in workflows to improve customer satisfaction and reduce manual processes. 

  • Enable new revenue optimization strategies to drive profitability. 

Platform 

E-Dea addressed Color Line’s challenges with the deployment of the following modules:

Reservation Management 

  • Streamlined passenger, cabin, and vehicle bookings with an integrated platform. 

  • Optimized booking workflows to handle high-capacity cabins and vehicle decks seamlessly. 

Pricing and Revenue Management

  • Implemented dynamic fare strategies and flexible rules for cabins, vehicles, and premium cruise services. 

  • Enabled promotional pricing and targeted discounts to attract key customer segments. 

Check-In and Boarding 

  • Streamlined check-in workflows with integrated self-service kiosks, allowing passengers to validate tickets and print passes independently. 

  • Optimized deck space utilization with automated gates to ensure smooth and accurate vehicle flow. 

  • Real-time boarding lane allocation reduced vehicle congestion and boarding delays. 

Data and Intelligence 

  • Provided tools for Revenue Optimization to analyze booking trends and optimize fare buckets. 

  • Enabled advanced demand forecasting to align inventory usage and pricing decisions in real time. 

  • Delivered insights to maximize revenue from cruise and ferry services, balancing passenger and vehicle capacity. 

Automation and Efficiency 

  • Implemented self-service kiosks and automated gates to reduce manual intervention and enable faster check-in and boarding processes. 

  • Configured workflows to trigger automatic notifications, boarding validations, and real-time updates across systems. 

  • Automated ticket validation and operational updates allowed staff to focus on customer service and exception handling. 

Technology and Integration

  • Adopted open standards to ensure scalability, flexibility, and easy integration with other systems.

  • Delivered a unified system for reservations, revenue management, and terminal operations.

Achieved Results 

By implementing E-Dea, Color Line achieved significant business results:

Close-up of a Color Line cruise ship docked at the port, showcasing its distinctive branding and design.

Optimized Booking Revenue

Enabled new pricing strategies and increased online sales.


Increased Efficiency

Over 30% of passenger traffic flowed through automated self-service kiosks during the first months of deployment.


Faster Boarding Times

Reduced boarding times through automated check-in and streamlined workflows.


Improved Customer Satisfaction

Enhanced passenger experience with faster, seamless processes.


Reduced Operational Costs

Lower staffing requirements for check-in operationsOptimized pricing strategies aligned with demand forecasts, increasing profitability.


Improved Revenue Performance

Optimized pricing strategies aligned with demand forecasts, increasing profitability.


Data-Driven Decisions

Leveraged predictive analytics to adjust fare buckets dynamically and enhance revenue control.