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Comparing Carnival’s Ocean Medallion Versus MSC for Me

Posted on 28 March, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

MSC for Me wearable bracelet. (Photo courtesy of MSC Cruises)

Princess Cruises recently announced a fourth ship in its fleet would receive Carnival Corporation’s latest Ocean Medallion technology. Rival MSC Cruises has newly introduced its own MSC for Me guest tech as well.

While the two are very similar, there are also differences to discuss.

Quick Background

The whole high-tech trend towards wearable and app-based devices really started when Royal Caribbean International implemented its SMART Check-In and WOWbands on its newest ships.

The idea is simply to help expedite initial embarkation with as much data pre-entered before arriving pier-side and to have a rubber bracelet that can more conveniently replace a key card. This then provides RFID access to opening cabins and making purchases in conjunction with the Royal iQ app.

Carnival’s Ocean Medallion

Announced at CES 2017, Carnival’s Ocean Medallion takes the concept much further. Curiously, it won’t first be rolled out on its Carnival Cruise Line brand but rather its Princess Cruises one. Regal Princess will introduce it in November 2017, followed by Royal Princess in January 2018, Caribbean Princess in March 2018 and now Island Princess in May 2018.

Ocean Medallion is based on a coin-sized device that can be pocketed or worn on the wrist or as a pendant. It then branches out as part of the larger O·C·E·A·N (One Cruise Experience Access Network) for passenger personalization. Besides the physical device, the Ocean Compass links everything as a digital concierge on ship displays, cabin televisions and guests’ mobile devices.

Specific features include expedited embarkation and stateroom access, not unlike Royal Caribbean. Additional capabilities encompass real-time ship navigation, friends and family locating, messaging, dining and spa reservations and even drink and food ordering with crew delivering to wherever a guest is located currently or as scheduled.

Behind the scenes, Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) systems support the platform.

MSC for Me

While less hyped initially, MSC Cruises will actually beat Carnival to the punch when it launches its own MSC for Me experience first on the MSC Meraviglia in June 2017, followed by MSC Seaside in December.

Again, MSC’s thinking is similar, but the line already plans to implement it fleet-wide across its upcoming eleven ships and existing twelve. Its goals extend to facilitating the crew with better means of servicing 170 different nationalities and their languages onboard.

MSC promises over 130 smart features backed—on the Meraviglia for example—by 144 interactive screens, 244 information screens, 31 virtual staterooms screens, 81 video wall monitors, 2,244 NFC-equipped cabins, 3,050 Bluetooth beacons, 700 access points and 1,200 CCTV cameras.

Guests will also have wearable bands and can access everything via a mobile app as well. Specific abilities will comparably include stateroom access, live navigation (accurate to 16 feet), concierge booking services and check-in.

Beyond that, MSC for Me will allow guests to book trips, utilize virtual reality to preview shore excursions, view and share cruise gallery images, receive preference-based geo-located recommendations and even be facially-recognized by cameras for more customized service.

Outlook

First, how will the technology be received by Princess and MSC guests? Second, will Carnival Cruise Line join the fold as a standard mainstream competitor? Will Norwegian Cruise Line as well?

Currently, Norwegian relies more on way-finding and reservation kiosks rather than wearables, and even Royal Caribbean has room to grow to match Carnival and MSC.

Of course, the implementation of such ship-wide systems is by no means quick and easy, and any investments towards such platforms need to be made wisely and as future-proofed as possible. One thing is for certain: old-school cruising is gone and the new high-tech equivalent is here to stay.

Royal Caribbean’s rollout of RFID wristbands will be gradual

Posted on 11 November, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean RFID wristband FORT LAUDERDALE — Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. President Adam Goldstein said it will be several years before the Sea Pass wristbands being used for room keys on Quantum of the Seas can be rolled out fleetwide.

Goldstein said the radio-frequency identification (RFID) wristbands are simple, but they go hand-in-hand with a new shipboard property management system that takes a fair amount of time to install.

“The next-generation embarkation and the RFID bands will kind of follow that process,” Goldstein said in a speech at the CruiseWorld conference, a Travel Weekly event.

Royal Caribbean will proceed ship by ship with the installations. He did not say which would be the next ship in line for Sea Pass.

Goldstein said that older ships such as Majesty of the Seas that look their age next to Quantum have been given extended life by adding newer features in scheduled drydocks.

“We’ve found across the board — and this is industrywide — that we’ve been able to inject a lot more features from the newer ships onto the older ships than probably any of us thought possible.”

He also noted that RCCL has six brands and that older Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships such as Majesty of the Seas have traditionally migrated to its other, primarily European, brands.

Goldstein said pressure on concessionaires to be more efficient has resulted in smaller footprints for areas like the photo gallery on Quantum. That has freed up more space for a variety of extra features that make the ship more exciting overall, he said.

CruiseWorld Goldstein said he’s never been a big fan of the contemporary-premium-upper premium-luxury continuum that many use to label the market segments of the cruise business, and that the edges of those categories are increasingly blurring into each other.

“If you’re in a loft suite on Oasis of the Seas, you’re in a pretty luxurious product,” he said.

“Very often our bigger brands are the second choice for couples that are normally cruising on small luxury ships,” Goldstein said. He said those passengers want the attributes of a large ship with all of the luxury amenities of a small one. “It is an interesting marketing challenge.”

Quantum mechanics: Robot bartenders and RFID wristbands

Posted on 4 November, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

SOUTHAMPTON, England — Quantum of the Seas is bound for the U.S., departing on a transatlantic trip to New York following a two-night preview cruise here.

About 2,700 travel agents, vendors, media and VIPs were treated to afirst look at the ship, fresh out of the Meyer Werft shipyard where it was under construction for 20 months.

Although Meyer Werft typically delivers early, according to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman Richard Fain, with Quantum it was just on time. Numerous items are being installed or fine-tuned on the crossing, which is expected to conclude Nov. 10.

The ship’s headline features have been publicized, but the preview cruise group got to see some of the less heralded innovations, and learned a few obscure facts from Fain and other Royal executives.

For example:

• The oversized magenta bear on Quantum’s top deck has been named Felicia by the crew. At a travel agent forum, one agent said she doesn’t know how to explain it to clients and wondered why it was there. “Why not?” Fain replied. “The bear is a little bit ridiculous and certainly unexpected, but isn’t she great?”

• More than 100 bottles of liquor are suspended from the ceiling over the two robotic bar tenders in the Bionic Bar. The robots reach skyward to access pours for the drinks they make. Bar managers believe they will have to restock only once a day. The two ’bots have been dubbed B1O and N1C by supervisors.

• Hand-washing basins have been installed at the entrances to the Windjammer buffet restaurant, and at several other restaurants around the ship. The basins are not an industry first — Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess and Regal Princess have them — but they are a first for Royal Caribbean. The idea is to keep passengers from spreading any illness, norovirus in particular.

• The poolside video screen was installed to the side after Fain concluded that its initial spot at the end of the pool was too obtrusive. One manager said Fain ordered the change. Fain says he doesn’t remember who suggested the move. “If you like it, I take credit for it,” he said.

• Two candelabras in the Wonderland restaurant feature lighted candles. Fain said Royal Caribbean banned open flames for more than 20 years but recently has made some limited exceptions approved by a panel of top executives. He said there is no Coast Guard rule on flames. “I think the candles add to the atmosphere,” he said.

• Metallic was the scent picked to add a sensory note to the North Star observation gondola. The smell is very subtle. North Star’s ascent to a position 300 feet above the ocean is smooth, gradual and silent, except for the whir of an air changer in the roof. The gondola is designed to automatically shut down and retract if sensors detect an unexpected motion.

• The pool areas in the Solarium contain several feet of water, deeper than on other Royal ships. They form a series of tiers, leading to a level with hot tubs on either side. A sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa is a focal point for the cascading pools.

• Jamie’s Italian, the specialty restaurant by British culinary entrepreneur Jamie Oliver, is the first alternative restaurant on a Royal Caribbean ship to have an al fresco dining area. The glass-shielded deck space has five tables for two and six tables for four.

• The Windjammer on Quantum will be the first one fleet-wide to have a section open 24 hours a day. The decision was made in part to accommodate demand anticipated when Quantum moves to China next May.

• The Schooner Bar menu has a retro theme. It features throwback classics such as the Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Brandy Alexander and daiquiri. The printed menu includes vintage photos of memorabilia, such as a typewritten Passenger Landing Card from 1974 and a drinks list with Budweiser priced at $1.35.

• Four key cards malfunctioned. Quantum offers RFID wristbands as an alternative to key cards. “Normally, we would have hundreds of key cards with [magnetic] strips that had become de-magnetized,” Fain said.

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