Carnival Corporation has made its big announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show, and CEO Arnold Donald has presented its new Ocean Medallion technology in the keynote speech. Where and when travelers will first experience it is aboard Princess Cruises' newest Regal Princess beginning on November 13, 2017, and it's expected to make a splash.
When asked by TravelPulse at a conference call today why Princess was the first of Carnival Corp.'s ten brands to implement the new system, Donald explained that Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, was the initial team member to express interest, "in the very very early stages before it had even evolved to what you see today with Ocean Medallion and Ocean Compass and all that. To know that she wanted Princess to be first, and so she stepped up first. So, she was rewarded first."
As to other brands beyond Princess deploying it, he added that others will likely adopt it in time after its first applications, "But it's not about the technology; it's about the guests, and so we just have to see how it actually resonates with guests. We think they're going to love it, but we'll see; and of course, if they do love it, every brand will be clamoring for it."
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We too anticipate it will be well received among cruise travelers as a dramatic evolution of technology seen only in its infancy thus far. Disney Cruise Line has a form of its shoreside MagicBand in use for children in its kids clubs, and Royal Caribbean International has its WOWbands for guests to connect with shipboard features, but they are mostly RFID technologies still reliant on a very deliberate "tapping" action.
Princess Cruises is set to take the technology much further with dual antennas that will broaden the interactions capable before, during and after a cruise, from boarding the ship and accessing one's stateroom without a key card to easily ordering onboard.
Specific to Princess, HERE and NOW will let guests buy a drink that can be immediately delivered to where they are enjoying, say, Movies Under The Stars or Stargazing with Discovery at Sea. Presumably, that means you could even order a cocktail in one seat in the main theater, switch seats and have the bar staff still know exactly where to deliver your libation. Or THERE and THEN will let guests place an advance order for a delivery to be made at a specific place and time in the near future.
What is likely to become the most useful feature-especially on larger ships-is the means to clearly navigate around the vessel. Cruise lines have gotten much better about providing improved signage and deck plans on apps recently, but they still require the guest to figure out where they are in that context. Now, the lost will have the easiest means to pinpoint where they are and where exactly they need to go.
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Princess is the perfect choice to first receive the technology as it really is a natural evolution of its award-winning Princess@Sea mobile app, which continues to be offered fleet-wide as the new rollout will surely eventually supersede it. After Regal Princess, Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess will be next to feature Ocean Medallion in early 2018.
"We are in the business of providing our guests incredible vacation experiences that create memories that they will cherish for a lifetime," said Swartz. "Ocean Medallion Class will deliver an elevated cruise vacation experience by connecting people, places and cultures from around the world in a more profound way. The service Princess guests have always loved will be amplified by the Ocean Medallion."
Beyond Princess, Donald recognizes that if the tech is applicable to its own shipboard hotel operations, restaurants, medical center, entertainment venues, casino, retail shops and more that it likely has the ability to resonate with traditional shoreside equivalents as well. In fact, Carnival Corporation has proprietary systems with a number of filed patents, so licensing agreements would not be outside the realm of future possibility.
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