In what was described by vice-president Tony Roberts as “a momentous day for the Crown Princess”, the 3,080-guest ship was confirmed as Princess Cruises’ first UK ship to be activated with Ocean Medallion and the fourth in the fleet, at a press conference in Southampton today (24 July 2019).

No larger than a 10p coin, the innovative multi-award winning device has been designed to deliver a supreme new level of service and a more personalised holiday experience for guests.

Commenting on the announcement, Tony Roberts, vice-president of Princess Cruises in the UK and Europe, said:

“We are so excited to see an Ocean Medallion-activated ship in the UK as guests can now see first-hand the huge number of benefits it brings with it. Ocean Medallion is intended to make every guest feel like a VIP and helps them relax and enjoy their cruise from the moment they are ready to step on board.

“From quicker access on and off the ship, to the unprecedented on demand service, to being able to stay in touch with friends and family wherever they are on the ship, all mean guests on Crown Princess can now make the most of every aspect of their holiday with us.”

Ocean Medallion is complimentary to all guests on board and includes the following benefits and services:

• Expedited arrival: Guests who upload their travel documents to their profile enjoy a streamlined check-in process
  Touchless stateroom entry: Doing away with key-cards, the door of guests’ staterooms will automatically unlock as they approach
• On-demand services: Using smart devices, guests have the ability to order drinks, food and retail items and have them delivered directly anywhere on board
  Family and friends locator: Accessible on portals throughout the ships and via guests’ smart devices, OceanCompass allows guests to locate and chat with friends and family onboard, as well as to navigate around the ship
  Interactive voyage timeline: Available on ship portals and via guests’ smart devices, JourneyView is an interactive timeline that lets guests scroll through all of the events available on board during their voyage and bookmark activities they’re interested in to their own personalised itinerary. Voyage itineraries are available from 60 days in advance, so guests can plan in advance.

Along with this, guests will also experience “the best WIFI at sea” thanks to MedallionNet, which allows passengers to stay connected anywhere on board, including staterooms, as well as to stream Netflix TV shows, make video calls, and so on.

Commenting on Ocean Medallion, CEO of Carnival Corporation Arnold W. Donald said: “Ocean Medallion is the future of cruise and the future of guest experience. Medallion evolved from one principle – providing a great experience.”

For John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Cruises, Ocean Medallion represents Princess Cruises’ ongoing mission to maximise guests’ experience:

“Medallion is all you need to empower your cruise experience. You can use MedallionNet to stream Netflix or use OceanCompass to locate guests. Service is now on demand, whether it’s food and drink or towels and sun lotion.”

He continues: “It’s non-technology, technology. Our focus was to infuse it into the ships so that it was invisible… It has no on/off button or need to be charged.”

The three other current Medallion Class vessels include Caribbean Princess, Regal Princess and Royal Princess. By 2020, seven more ships will become Medallion Class vessels up to the end of 2020.

The seven MedallionClass ships launching include:

·        Sky Princess on October 2019
·        Ruby Princess on 27 January, 2020
·        Grand Princess on 29 March, 2020
·        Enchanted Princess on 15 June, 2020
·        Emerald Princess on 16 August, 2020
·        Coral Princess on 16 October, 2020
·        Island Princess on 20 December, 2020

Crown Princess is based in Southampton this summer and will sail to the British Isles on a series of 12-night voyages. It was also announced that Princess will continue to have five ships in Europe and three in the UK.

Highlighting its commitment to “and faith in the UK market,” three Princess Cruises ships will sail from the UK in 2021 – Grand Princess (based in Southampton), Island Princess and Crown Princess. New ships Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess will be named in Southampton next year and will be based in Europe.

In other news, Roberts also announced that Phillip Schofield will continue to be brand ambassador of Princess Cruises for the next three years, describing him as a “great partner ” who is helping “tell the story of what is different about Princess.”

As 99.5 per cent of guests are embracing the medallion according to John Padgett, Princess Cruises plans to roll it out across all ships in Europe by 2021. As Roberts concluded: “This is something that does not exist anywhere else. We are very excited about where we take this next.”