MSC Cruises has revealed that its digital personal assistant will be named Zoe.

The announcement was made by CEO Gianni Onorato at the 2018 CLIA Conference.

Zoe, which aims to provide guests with a simple and stress-free way to find out information, will be available for the first time on the MSC Bellissima, which will be christened in Southampton on 2 March 2019.

Onorato said: “As a family-owned company with over 300 years of seafaring heritage, it is a maritime tradition to involve the female members of the family in key events and developments. Zoe is a family name as well as being a name that is internationally recognised and easy to pronounce no matter what language a guest speaks. Choosing a family name was a way to combine tradition with our continued focus on innovation.”

The introduction of Zoe marks a new phase in MSC’s digital programme, MSC For Me, which was introduced in 2017 with the launch of MSC Meraviglia. This connected cruise experience is also available on MSC Seaside, MSC Splendida with a special adaptation for Asia, and will be introduced on MSC Seaview when the latest flagship comes into service on 10 June.

A bespoke device is being designed specifically for use in the cabins and will be available in seven languages – English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Mandarin.

Onorato also revealed that MSC is working on more personalised, one-to-one customer engagement using artificial intelligence and machine learning.