The port and the cruise lines could do a lot to optimize the arrival and departure experience. According to psychologists the first and last items in a list are the most frequently remembered. The current process has a few rough edges that need to be filed smooth.

As you drive up, the cruise begins. Your luggage is whisked away to your room and you enter the cruise experience. If you preregistered, it should make things easier. Scanners could clear your passport at a kiosk, record your credit card information, issue your cruise id card and take that first photo. (Waiting in line to go aboard does not add value).

When you return to port is the most psychologically disturbing time. The fun is ending. Once again information can help. Cars arriving to pickup departing passengers could be held in a pickup lot and released when paged (restaurant pager approach). Passengers would trigger the pagers when departing the baggage pickup area by one last swipe of their room cards. Preregistration would help by printing a pickup pass tied to the passengers id.

On board it's up to the cruise line to keep you happy and each one is different. You eat well, the rooms are small but modern, you eat some more, you go to some places you might never have thought to visit, you play games, watch shows, you meet people, it's fun. One thing that tends to happen on board is that you get cut off from the rest of the world. Cell phones don't work. Laptop hotspots are limited.  For many people this is the definition of a vacation. It is plesant to have a conversation with a person and not be interrupted by a cell phone call.

As good as it is to get away, 21st century passengers demand information. Every room and most public areas on board should be equipped with  terminals that would tell you what is going on. Every shipboard activity, every detail about your cruise would be instantly available via a ship website. Alarm clocks, bridge instrument repeaters, webcams around the ship, online games as you cruise. Information about the ports. Shop all the stores from your stateroom. Order room service. Preview and order those photos. Book your next cruise. Check your symptoms. Book a shore activity.  I saw people waiting in line to do all these things.

Whether passengers also use their laptops to work....well that's up to them but internet access seems like a must.