Tag Archives: Regal Princess

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

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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.

Princess Cruises announces biggest ever season of ex-UK sailings

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by Natasha Salmon

Princess Cruises has announced 2018 will be its biggest ever season of cruises departing from the UK.

More than 40 itineraries on three Princess ships will be available between April and October out of Southampton and Dover.

In 2016 the operator’s Emerald Princess spent the summer season in Southampton.

Tony Roberts, vice president Princess Cruises UK and Europe, said: “Having seen a significant increase in popularity of Princess cruises from the UK, we are thrilled to announce that our 2018 programme will be our biggest ever season.

“We have a long history with the UK market and after a significant growth, especially with the popularity of our Emerald ex-UK sailings; we decided to grow it further.”

The Sapphire Princess will make its maiden visit to Europe sailing from Southampton to the Mediterranean and northern Europe for the full period between April and October.

Prior to this, from March, it will sail from Singapore on the Indian Ocean & Europe Grand Adventures 38-night cruise to Southampton and then return to Singapore in October.

In May 2018, Royal Princess will return to the UK offering round-Britain cruises, five years after it was launched by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Pacific Princess, the lines smaller ship, will sail a roundtrip from Dover to northern and southern Europe between June and September, including the 12-night European capitals cruise with overnight stay in Amsterdam.

Roberts said the company’s success is reliant on their work with agents.

“The thing which has made 2016 such a success for us is closely working with the trade.

“Agents are critical to the success of our presence in the UK and we will continue to work with them.”

For the first time in three years summer Caribbean cruises will return with 47 itineraries around the Caribbean and Panama Canal ranging from seven to 20-nights.

Princess will offer its largest ever Alaska deployment with seven ships sailing in the region, increasing the number of guests by 15%.

Crown Princess will offer Mediterranean cruises from Rome, Athens and Barcelona while Regal Princess will sail roundtrip from Copenhagen to Scandinavia and the Baltic.

Princess’ Sun Princess could be sailing into the sunset

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Sun Princess

The news that Princess Cruises has ordered two new ships for delivery in 2019 and 2020 will likely mean the departure from the fleet of several older ships.

In announcing the orders at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard in Italy, Carnival CEO Arnold Donald made reference to the line’s measured growth strategy, which includes “replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time.”

The oldest and presumably least efficient ship in the Princess stable is the 1995-built Sun Princess, now sailing in Australia. It doesn’t seem that long ago when the Sun Princess was the biggest, freshest ship in the Princess fleet.

In 1995 Princess was still predominantly a West Coast cruise line, but it was trying to raise its profile in the Caribbean. Its Sun class ships were part of that strategy.

Of course, that was before Carnival Corp. acquired Princess. The godmother of the Sun Princess, Lady Dorothy Sterling, was the wife of Lord Jeffrey Sterling, chairman of the line’s then-owner, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

In fact, Princess was a competitor for several of Carnival’s brands until Carnival acquired the company in 2003.

The Sun Princess came along when cruise lines were first realizing the appeal and revenue power of balcony cabins. The ship’s 372 balcony cabins gave it a big advantage in the Caribbean when it first launched.

Today, at slightly less than 2,000 passengers, the Sun Princess carries 45% fewer passengers than the ships Carnival has ordered for the future. 

The other ship that was christened at Port Everglades in the fall of 1995, Celebrity Cruises’ Century, has already left the fleet and is sailing for Celebrity’s joint venture with Ctrip in China. 

By 2020, the Sun Princess will be 25 years old. I would look for a similar exit for it sometime in the next few years.