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The Regal Princess will set sail this November with a new "Medallion Class" experience. Take a look inside.
[...] Start by imagining a smart home, decked out with sophisticated tech and sensors. But instead of a residence for a few people, it can handle 3,560 guests at any time.
That's exactly what Carnival has done with the Regal Princess, the first ship in its Princess Cruises' fleet to get a massive technological overhaul as part of the Ocean Medallion project, first glimpsed back in January at CES.
Carnival's decision is yet another example of a company investing in cutting-edge tech designed to better serve customers and cater to their more sophisticated needs. From theme parks embracing virtual reality to airlines offering more advanced in-flight entertainment, vacations are increasingly going high tech. Now, Carnival is stepping up its game.
[...] "In theory, this technology will enhance the guest's experience," [The Sunday Times' Sue] Bryant said. "It makes it easier for crew members to recognize a guest and address them by name, for example, which is something that wouldn't normally happen on a big ship with a couple of thousand guests."
Each medallion and a related smartphone app will also streamline the boarding process, open your room's door, remember your wine preferences, let you book reservations for activities, send you invitations to events and allow you to make purchases from anywhere on the ship. It's like a digital concierge and planning guide. There is also an opt-in location service that lets you keep tabs on everyone in your group and shows you where they are at any time.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Tuesday June 06 2017, @09:29AM (6 children)
I would find being addressed by my name offensive and invasive, unless we had been introduced. As a rule, I don't introduce myself unless I expect to have an ongoing or detailed relationship, nor do I expect others to introduce themselves under similar circumstances.
One of the nicest thing about staying in an hotel (or a cruise) is the transitory nature of the relationship. I'm quite happy to be known as "room 101" for the duration of my stay. As a paying guest, I expect my requests to be met efficiently and professionally; to the exact same standard that all the other guests might expect; and after that is done... to fade into the background.
I suppose it's just cultural.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:05AM
It's supposed to make the person being addressed feel important. Like they own the boat or something. Don't forget your smoking jacket and cheap wine.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:43AM (2 children)
Average age of cruise ship passenger: "well beyond middle-aged"
Average income "not really rich" (or, potentially: "rich after inheritence").
Together, these amount to "not born to money", and likely, with a bit less money, these people would be comfortable at a local country club/Australian RSL. Anything the company does to make the person feel "special" encourages repeat business.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:59PM
I take it you haven't been on a Carnival cruise before. While this may be true about cruise lines in general, from what I've experienced in the past, Carnival is the "party" cruise line. The average age is about 25 and most people never spend the night in their own cabin. Given that demographic, I'm not sure these upgrades make much sense unless they're trying to upgrade their image.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 06 2017, @02:30PM
"Newly wed and nearly dead"
My wife and I had our honeymoon on a cruise, I'd say about half the population was under 30 and we partied until 2am every night and had a blast with the other honeymooners and about half the population was at least 80.
There was very little mixing going on. May as well have been different boats. It was weird because cruise ships always have a minimum of 15 activities going on 24x7 and you'd look at the daily flyer and you could click off which events were for old people or young people. They actually ran a newly-wed-game show ripoff and there was no one over 30 in that room. They have wild bars and wild dance party halls and they had old man den (what younger generations would call a man-cave) sports bars.
I will take that back slightly as the little wanna be casino had some mixing. Its weird playing blackjack against some dude who's older than your great grandfather would be. Some of those old guys can really bluff.
I understand that in my age bracket there are "family" cruise ships with like a disney theme and stuff. Eh I donno. Disney is pretty dead to my kids generation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:53PM
I don't know if it is a Catholic thing, but people may be called by a name that isn't their first given name. John Michael Andrew Smith may have been Andrew Smith to everyone with occasion to know his Christian name.
But the boat demands names as printed in the passport and, screw Mr Smith, his name is John or Mr John to the crew and any technical interface now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:04PM
Walgreens had a customer service crazy about knowing customers on a first name basis. It seems like it's the latest cargo cult attempt at good service. Only problem like you noted is I didn't introduce myself to any of them except the pharmacy tech. So it's just weird. I mean, yeah, I recognize everybody there and they recognize me, but it seems like starting to use first names out of the blue is weird and creepy. (Though I'm not old enough or accomplished enough yet to care to be a mister. That's my dad.)
I don't remember if the cashier got my name from my license since I occasionally buy cigarettes there but it was probably the rewards card I've decided to use. Guess that's what I get for selling my personal information to get an extra 50¢ off the odd end I pick up at Walgreens besides prescriptions.
So now almost everybody there calls me by first name. Very irritating, but I realize there's nothing I can do about. The Cargo Cult of Customer Service has spoken.
When the airplanes don't land (remembering Feynman's original usage of cargo cult), they'll move on to some other ritual to try to get the airplanes to land.
Reminds me of another treadmill that was a real groaner. It was "how may I help you?" Then it was "how may I assist you?" Then it was "how may I assist you today?" There was some crap about a focus group that responded to the next iteration of the treadmill better than the last. They were even giving people on the floor bad grades whenever they used last week's treadmill phrase.
Jeezus. Marketing and PR douches really can't figure out what makes good service, can they? There is no magic phrase that will hypnotize me into being a repeat customer. Only giving me prompt and reliable service with real courtesy instead of a magic phrase will do that.
The other thing that'll blow the marketing and PR douches' minds is that enabling people on the floor to actually provide good service instead of trying to control every word out of their mouths like they're robots actually makes for a rewarding job. I know because I too once worked service jobs when I was a poor college student.
I mean, but hell, treat your employees like robots so you can replace them with robots. And here we are with Carnival ahead of the curve.