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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 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.