Carnival Corp claims ‘medallions’ innovation puts it alongside Apple and Microsoft

Posted on 5 January, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival Corporation claims its new personalisation technology puts it on a par with global technology giants like Apple and Microsoft.

The world’s largest cruise operator, which owns brands including Princess Cruises, Cunard and P&O Cruises, unveiled its Ocean Medallion innovation today.

In what is believed to be a first for the travel sector, Carnival chief executive Arnold Donald is due to give a keynote at the prestigious CES consumer technology show in Las Vegas.

This is where all the major global technology brands go to showcase the new products they hope will take the world by storm.

Ocean Medallion has been devised by Carnival chief experience and innovation officer John Padgett, the man behind Disney’s MagicBands used in its Florida Disney world themepark.

MagicBands were touted as a game-changer for the themepark sector and much the same is being predicted for Ocean Medallion.

Padgett said: “It’s huge deal that Carnival is featuring at this [CES] tech show. This isn’t Carnival with Royal Caribbean and Norwegian.

“This is Carnival alongside the likes of Microsoft or Apple. So this isn’t about market share, it’s about us being in the vanguard to show how truly great the entire cruise industry is.”

Padgett said the technology will create an “experiential aura” around every guest that will trigger personalised information to be sent to them to enhance their holiday.

He said the technology is a step beyond MagicBands as it does not require the human wearer to do anything to make it work.

“Guests don’t need to swipe or tap the medallion. They just have to wear it as a pendant, bracelet or keyfob, and every single one will have a digital concierge looking out for them.

“It won’t stereotype or segment passengers; it will track what they engage in, in real-time, from the minute they book their holiday, and send them only information relevant to their interests and preferences,” he said.

“The more they engage, the better their experience will be.”

Padgett says it will change the cruise industry’s focus from the maximisation of on board revenue to the enhancement of a customer’s personalised holiday experience.

In doing so, he believes guests will, by default, spend more money, either on the ticket price due to the perceived greater value of a cruise holiday, or by spending more on board as hassle, distractions and friction are eliminated.

The Princess Cruises line will be the first brand to offer the new technology before a roll out across Carnival’s brands.

Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess will adopt the new ‘Ocean Medallions’ in November 2017, with Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess following next year.

Fathom’s Dominican Republic cruises to add Cuba call

Posted on 2 January, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Carnival’s Fathom, ex-P&O Adonia

Fathom, Carnival Corp.’s social-impact cruise line, has been given permission to visit Cuba on cruises scheduled to go to the Dominican Republic.

Fathom will offer a port call in Santiago de Cuba, on the island’s southeast coast, on six cruises next year that primarily go to Amber Cove, Carnival’s port in the Dominican Republic.

The seven-day cruises will take place during the weeks of February 26, March 12 and 26, April 9 and 23, and May 7. Prices start at $599 per person.

The cruises depart Miami on Sundays. Fathom said the Santiago de Cuba port call will occur on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Travelers already booked for those cruises will need to add a $75 Cuban visa.

Fathom’s ship, the Adonia, already sails every other week to Cuba with stops in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago. Prices for those cruises start at about $1,900 per person.

In November, Carnival Corp. said that Fathom is discontinuing cruise operations next June. The Adonia will be returned to the P&O Cruises fleet.

NCL, Oceania and Regent get permission to sail Cuba cruises

Posted on 7 December, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

The Norwegian Sky will sail Cuba voyages from Miami.

After waiting for six months, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) finally got the call it had been seeking from the Cuban government allowing it to start cruises to Cuba from Miami, beginning in March.

The authority is temporary and will expire in May. But it covers three brands (Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania), the first time a cruise company has won approval to marshal multiple brands in a strategic foray into the Cuban market.

“We are tremendously excited to have all three of our award-winning brands receive approval from authorities in Cuba to offer cruises to Cuba from the United States,” said Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio, who was born in Cuba.

“This is truly a dream come true for me, and I cannot wait for our loyal guests to experience the sights and sounds of my hometown of Havana and get to know its rich culture and its warm and welcoming residents,” he said.

Cruises will sail on the 1,928-passenger Norwegian Sky, the 1,250-passenger Marina and the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner.

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Seven Sea’s Mariner,

The first Oceania cruise to Cuba will depart Miami on March 7, leaving less than three months to prepare the ship, the itinerary, the crew and to sell the cruises. The Marina voyages will include “many multiple-day calls to allow guests to explore Havana and its environs,” the company said.

The Norwegian Sky will sail a series of four-night voyages over nighting in Havana in May, while Seven Seas Mariner will call on Havana during two cruises in April.

Pricing was not released. On Carnival Corp.’s Fathom, the only other cruise line to gain approval to sail between Miami and Cuba, fares start at about $1,900 for a seven-day cruise.

Fathom’s ship, the Adonia, is older and much less luxurious than the Marina, which was built in 2011. The Adonia is about the same age as the Norwegian Sky.

It isn’t clear why Cuba is giving NCLH such a small window in which to operate. However, Fathom’s authority to sail to Cuba will also expire in May.

The opening for NCLH comes at a crossroads in relations between the U.S. and Cuba with both countries going through a transition in top leadership. Some analysts had expected a pause in new business approvals, while others saw an acceleration to take advantage of the Obama administration’s open stance towards Cuba.

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Fathom Cruise entering Havana

Cruise tourism to Cuba remains bound by the “people-to-people” framework in place since 1982. That requires shore excursions to be structured to promote exchange activities, such as cultural and humanitarian visits. Norwegian said its cruises would comply with Treasury Department rules.

To sail the new itinerary, Norwegian and Oceania will have to re-accommodate guests already booked. The March 7 Marina departure is currently listed as a 14-day cruise to ports in the western Caribbean, Central America and Colombia. The ship was scheduled to leave for Europe on April 10.

The Norwegian Sky does three- and four-day cruises from Miami that typically attract late bookings.

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Regent Seven Seas Explorer

NCLH’s application to sail to Cuba has been pending for at least a year. At a July news briefing onboard the new Regent Seven Seas Explorer, also an NCLH-owned ship, Del Rio said he was “literally waiting on a phone call for the final, final approval” from Cuba.

But after the Adonia’s authority was granted in March, no other cruise ship approvals followed until now.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is among the cruise companies with applications pending. It plans to use Royal Caribbean International’s Empress of the Seas to ply the Florida-Cuba route.

MSC Cruises sails to Cuba but does not market the cruises to U.S. residents. Celestyal Cruises offers seasonal Cuba cruises that Americans can take by flying to either Havana or Montego Bay, Jamaica, and enrolling in a people-to-people group program for shore excursions.