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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.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:46AM (2 children)
These medallions track the users, likely all the time, even if you have chosen not to share with anyone in your group.
Management of thousands of people is going to be simpler when you know where they all are, and at what time they do things.
This will lead to better planning of activities, meals, and also better extraction of money from the guests.
Any convenience or benefit for the customer is either a bonus or spin.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday June 06 2017, @02:45PM
Yeah they were already pretty good about that around the turn of the century using mag stripe cards.
Its "all inclusive" but you could ask for extra stuff such as the fancy liquor or strange side trips at ports. I seem to recall billing casino chips to my room too.
In fact in one of the wild party bars they had four networked car racing "VR" video games and my wife and I must have blown $100 racing each other and other people.
It all adds up and on the last morning you get a bill for like $1500 when the cruise officially only cost $1200, LOL. But we knew it was going to happen and we had a lot of fun so who cares.
The day trips at ports are either really cheap in that they were very safe and they affiliated with the cruise line such that you're not going to get stranded so they're an awesome deal, or maybe they are very expensive, its hard to judge. I still sometimes wonder why fundamentally going to some nude beach and having lunch cost $300 per couple, but it was really first class service, a fantastic rental bus, open bar at the semi-private nude beach, great catered lunch, etc. The cost of scuba gear rental and a boat to a reef was kinda ridiculous (maybe $500, I don't remember), but, again it was flawless and perfect and enjoyable.
They also like having a photographer wander around the "cool" ship events and then sell you printed photos for like $20 each which kinda adds up too.
And we blew some money at the duty free shop and that can add up quickly.
I never got sick from catered food in central america but supposedly if you ate street cart food you pretty much died of dysentery.
(Score: 2) by jcross on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:40PM
Even worse, this will completely ruin most of the plot of Titanic.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday June 06 2017, @11:19AM
Sounds great until someone connects to the smart ship network bus and has fun with the whole ship from the comfort of a cabin.
Oh and wireless on top of that. What could go wrong? WEP? firmware backdoor?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Walzmyn on Tuesday June 06 2017, @11:28AM (2 children)
Any word on if they're going to try to keep the boats upright?
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:31PM (1 child)
I could do without the illness. Passenger ships are such great ways to concentrate people and spread disease.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @06:03PM
Colds do tend to spread in concentrated settings, but the cruise industry, in cooperation with regulators, is casting safe food handling issues as a passenger hygiene problem.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Fnord666 on Tuesday June 06 2017, @01:01PM
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:47PM
Isn't Carnival the cruise line that caters to alcoholics? Also, cocaine users.
I took a Caribbean cruise once, and we hired a private driver at one of the ports of call. He did a lot of business like this with cruise ship passengers and had some interesting observations about them. Many, many passengers asked him where they could get some weed, for instance. However, he noticed that the Carnival passengers generally wanted cocaine, unlike the passengers of other cruise lines. I was even asked before going by a coworker "what about all the drunks?" because his extended family had just gone on a Carnival cruise together, and that was his experience. My experience was totally different, because I rode with Norwegian: everyone was very well-behaved. It probably helped that a large fraction of the guests were German.
(Score: 2) by microtodd on Tuesday June 06 2017, @09:48PM (1 child)
So this line:
Everyone obviously remembers Star Trek: "Computer, locate LtCr La Forge." "LtCr La Forge is in Engineering 2".
We all thought that was so cool. Add now things like that are coming true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 06 2017, @11:31PM
Do you also remember all those times the characters removed their comm badges to opt out of location tracking?
On duty personnel carrying tracking devices while on duty, truly shocking.
(Score: 2) by gawdonblue on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:05PM
Hi-tech? Woop-de-doo Basil. Let me know when they offer a usable internet connection.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Tuesday June 06 2017, @11:26PM
I am pretty sure that Carnival did not take a house, give it home automation devices, stretch it or build and aggregate more of it until it slept 3,560 people, and dropped it into the water. It would sink.
Since carnival didn't do that--I assure you--there's no reason to say that they did.
I know that there is this thing about having to explain things with car analogies with units of measure in libraries of congress, and I get that, I truly do. But random inane comparisons that fail at any semblance of parallelism should just stop.
Once you figure out how to explain smart cruise ships in a way that small minds can easily grasp (perhaps you could start with "smart houseboat" instead of "smart home"; at least houseboats float), then you can move on to NOT calling every non-gas-giant exoplanet "a (super|sub|nother) Earth" for the simple reason that each planet so described to date has resembled Earth approximately equally in the way that it resembles an asteroid, or a baked potato. That is to say, very little.
That is all.