The Ocean Medallion has been described as “next generation” by the company, which said it would “deliver a new level of personalised service not previously considered possible”.
This includes enabling customers to order food and drinks on demand; speed up the port embarkation and disembarkation process; locate friends and family around the ship; access their staterooms as they approach the door and purchase merchandise without any transaction.
Carnival said the new device would feature an Internet of Things network of intelligent sensors and experiential computing devices, which it insisted would “revolutionise guest service not only for the cruise industry, but the broader vacation industry”.
Arnold Donald, chief executive of Carnival Corp said: “With this interactive technology platform, we are poised to have our global cruise line brands at the vanguard of forever changing the guest experience paradigm – not just in the cruise industry but in the larger vacation market and potentially other industries.
“Our focus is on exceeding guest expectations every single day and consistently delivering great experiences, and we do that extremely well. Now we are in prime position to take the guest experience to a level never before considered possible and build on cruising’s popularity and value as the fastest growing segment of the vacation sector.”
The company said the Ocean Medallion would pair with a digital portal called Ocean Compass which would be available on smart devices, kiosks in home ports and stateroom TVs as well as interactive surfaces throughout the ship.
The new device will debut on Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess in November 2017, followed by Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess in 2018, before being eventually rolled out across the entire Princess Cruises fleet.
It will be difficult to assess just how far Ocean Medallion will revolutionise the cruise industry until we see it in action, and passengers fully understand how much of a ’personalised concierge service’ this device can offer them. Competitor cruise lines have played around with similar technology in the past - they will likely be watching with a close eye to see just what Princess Cruises’ passengers make of this new device.
