On Board
Carnival Corporation Unveils Game-Changing Guest Experience Platform
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rnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, made history as the first travel industry executive to deliver the opening keynote at CES, where he unveiled the company’s and the world's first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service on a large scale. The Ocean Medallion is a first-of-its-kind wearable device that enables every guest to have a personal digital concierge to maximize each guest's experience, bridging the physical and digital worlds to deliver a new level of personalized service not previously considered possible. “It opens an entire world of experiences, and the personal power it unleashes is huge," Donald told the 2,600 people in the main ballroom at the Venetian Las Vegas. Powered by Carnival’s proprietary technology featuring an Internet of Things (IoT) network of intelligent sensors and experiential computing devices, the Ocean Medallion enables individuals to be recognized and helps them personalize their experience in countless ways. FAIN HAILS CARNIVAL'S OCEAN MEDALLION AND REVEALS EXCALIBUR “Technology can be used to help our biggest single problem—not enough people understand cruising,” said Richard Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., as he praised Carnival’s rollout of its Ocean Medallion that “got a lot of positive publicity” and proceeded to reveal Royal Caribbean’s own plans, codenamed Excalibur. Royal Caribbean debuted its own wearable technology, WOWbands, two years ago, using RFID technology to open stateroom doors, make purchases and access the Royal iQ app for planning and activities. But Royal is is now working on a new, ambitious and all-encompassing application, which Fain told will 44 FIRST QUARTER 2017 | TRAVEL & CRUISE
debut in the summer and be rolled out across six to 11 ships over the next year. MSC SEAVIEW COIN CEREMONY MARKS MILESTONE IN EXPANDING MSC CRUISES' FLEET MSC Cruises and Fincantieri marked a key milestone in the building of 154,000gt MSC Seaview with a coin ceremony, held at Monfalcone shipyard on February 2, 2017. At 323mtr long, MSC Seaview is the second Seaside-class vessel and the third next-generation cruise ship that will come into service under MSC Cruises’ ten-year investment plan through 2026. “MSC Seaview is a reflection of our unique and ongoing commitment to each time bring to market the most innovatively conceived cruise ships,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises. A NIGHT TO REMEMBER: SEABOURN ENCORE CHRISTENED Seabourn formally introduced Seabourn Encore to the world at a festive evening ceremony pier side in Singapore on January 7. International recording artist and world’s best-selling soprano Sarah Brightman presided over the naming ceremony as godmother of the new 600-guest ship, the first of two new all-suite vessels for the company. “The launch of Seabourn Encore marks the start of a new era of ultra-luxury cruising,” said Richard Meadows, Seabourn president. “Seabourn Encore marks a major step forward in terms of growth for our company.” NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE TO BUILD NEW NEXT GENERATION OF SHIPS Norwegian Cruise Line’s next generation of ships will be built by Fincantieri S.p.A. Four 3,300-passenger, 140,000 gross ton ships