High-tech on high seas

Carnival puts service at your fingertips.

Carnival Corp. & PLC, the world’s largest cruise line operator, has unveiled a digital concierge program that the company hopes will turn ships into “smart cities.”

Through the use of a 1.8-ounce, wireless “Ocean Medallion,” passengers will be able to remotely lock and unlock staterooms, instantly pay for onboard merchandise and keep crew members apprised of food, beverage and entertainment preferences before they enter bars, restaurants and casinos.

The concept is a maritime version of so-called smart bracelets used at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in Central Florida, where wireless signals help visitors quickly access rooms and buy tickets, products and services.

At sea, wireless medallions worn by passengers of Carnival’s Princess Cruises line will connect to thousands of onboard sensors that will alert crew members of passenger needs in advance.

Miami-based competitor Royal Caribbean International is among cruise lines using wearable technology such as radio-frequency identification “Wowband” wristbands. The line’s SeaPass keycards enable travelers to unlock amenities and services during their cruises.

Carnival president and CEO Arnold Donald is scheduled to formally unveil the technology Thursday at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Carnival, which operates 10 brands and more than 100 ships, plans to debut its medallion service in November aboard Regal Princess, the newest ship in the company’s Princess Cruises brand. The ship will be outfitted with sensors and cable in April.

The Royal Princess, while in drydock in Italy recently, was outfitted with 72 miles of cable, 7,000 sensors, 650 readers and more than 4,000 interactive portals.

Regal Princess will sail from Port Everglades. The program, to be called Medallion Class Ocean Vacations, will roll out aboard sister ships Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess in January 2018 and March 2018, respectively.

The Ocean Medallion differs from other wearable smart bands in the industry in that it's the only "key" or access tool the traveler will need during a cruise as it's able to unlock personal sailing information, Carnival said. All payment and personal information is secure and password protected.

“What the medallion does is it creates a service aura around you,” said John Padgett, Carnival’s chief experience and innovation officer, during a recent preview of the technology at company headquarters in Doral. “And that aura around you is used to interact with every experience across the end-to-end vacation.”

Padgett spent 18 years at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts where he and a team introduced the MagicBand wristband technology visitors now use to enter theme parks, unlock hotel rooms and buy food and merchandise.

Inside each medallion are two microscopic antennas — one using Near Field Communications and another using Bluetooth Low Energy. Readers and sensors across the ship interact with the medallion to create a “unified genome” for each guest that knows preferences and interests based on information provided by the customer.

If the disc is lost it can be deactivated and replaced with a new one, noted Michael Jungen, vice president, design and technology.