MIAMI, Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, today announced that it has been named a CES® 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree for the OceanMedallion™, the revolutionary wearable device that powers the breakthrough guest experience platform behind MedallionClass vacations.
The prestigious CES Innovation Awards honor outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products and are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, engineers and members of the trade media based on design, functionality, consumer appeal, engineering and how the products compare with competition.
Originally unveiled by Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, and championed by Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, at CES 2017, the Medallion™ device persistently connects a cruise guest's unique digital identity with an intelligent shipboard Experience Internet of Things (xIoT™) ecosystem to enhance guest-crew interactions and deliver a high level of personalized service on a large scale. The device enables all aspects of an elevated guest vacation including hassle-free payment, keyless, personalized stateroom access, frictionless embarkation, on-demand services and more.
"Few accolades are as prestigious as the CES Innovation Awards and we are incredibly honored to receive this recognition for game-changing innovation," said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. "Rarer is for the travel industry to be driving the apex of applied innovation in the IoT space. This award helps to further validate that technology, particularly IoT, has endless application in the travel business to transform and maximize consumers' precious vacation time."
The OceanMedallion and the company's xIoT currently are transforming vacations for all guests sailing on Caribbean Princess from Princess Cruises, one of Carnival Corporation's nine world-leading cruise line brands. Guests are enjoying an extensive portfolio of OceanMedallion-enabled features, specifically designed to enhance the vacation experience, including:
- Keyless Stateroom Access: Stateroom entry is a seamless experience where each guest is securely validated and the door automatically unlocks, with personalized greetings launching soon.
- OceanNow™: Using smart devices, guests have the ability to place a food or drink order and have it delivered directly to them in food and beverage locations throughout the ship.
- MedallionPay™: All guests use an easy and hassle-free payment experience enabling crew members to focus on guest service interactions.
- OceanCasino™: On smart devices and select portals, guests can wager real money on a portfolio of games, including slots, poker, bingo, roulette, keno and lottery from anywhere on board.
- OceanCompass™ featuring OceanNav™ and ShipMates: On select portals guests can use OceanNav for point-to-point wayfinding throughout the ship via an intelligent navigation assistant, and utilize ShipMates to easily locate friends, family and kids.
- JourneyView™: On portals throughout the ship, guests can access a real-time look at their itinerary, along with events and activities taking place during their cruise.
- OceanView™: Guests can stream more than 100 hours of award-winning Ocean Original travel content – which airs nationally on weekends on ABC and NBC – to their smart device anywhere on the ship at no cost.
- PlayOcean™: On portals located shipwide, guests are able to play family games, including trivia, word jumble, a matching game and Ocean Treks Adventure – an interactive, shipwide digital scavenger hunt.
The CES Innovation Awards are sponsored by CTA, owner and producer of CES, the world's largest and most influential technology event. CTA has been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976.
Carnival Corporation's OceanMedallion™ will be on display in the Innovation Awards Showcase at the upcoming CES 2019, which will run January 8-11, 2019 in Las Vegas. The complete list of CES 2019 Innovation Honorees, including product descriptions and photos, can be found at CES.tech/Innovation.
For more information on OceanMedallion™, follow @OceanVacations on Twitter and use the hashtags #OceanMedallion and #MedallionClass.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK), as well as Fathom, the corporation's immersion and enrichment experience brand.
Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 103 ships with 234,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 22 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2025. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.
In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival Corporation for its work in developing OceanMedallion™, a high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com, www.cunard.com, and www.fathom.org.
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc
