The Voice of the Cruise Industry
Ocean Cruise News
MENU menu

MSC Cruises invests in ‘game-changing’ technology for next-generation fleet

Samsung smart bracelet MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is the next cruise line to introduce game-changing technology to improve the guest experience, accessible via interactive screens, tablets, mobiles and wearables. It follows the lead of Princess Cruises, which unveiled the Ocean Medallion earlier this year.

However, MSC will steal a march on Princess Cruises, by introducing the technology earlier when it launches MSC Meraviglia, its next-generation ship, which comes into service on June 2017. The programme will be rolled out on subsequent launches MSC Seaside in November and MSC Seaview in June 2018.

Princess Cruises’ new guest experience platform will debut on Regal Princess in November 2017, followed by Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess in 2018.

MSC’s digital innovation programme, MSC for Me, will help guests navigate the ship and share accurate whereabouts of guests’ children. Like Princess’s Ocean Medallion it will also provide access to a guest’s own cabin and enable payments onboard. Guests will easily be able to book services, restaurants and excursions in real-time, via a digital multi-channel experience, available through their smartphone or tablet app, interactive cabin TV screen or public screens. MSC Meraviglia will be fitted with 16,000 points of connectivity, 700 digital access points, 358 informative and interactive screens, and 2,244 cabins with RFID/NFC access technology. The technology will also act as a digital, personal advisor, providing tailored recommendations based on guest preferences.

MSC Cruises has spent the past three years working with the world’s leading digital, tech and behavioural science experts, including Deloitte Digital, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Samsung, on the holistic programme, which puts guests at the heart of the development, design and construction of its ships.

MSC Cruises’ executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago said: “The length and scale of our investment plan is unprecedented in the industry and it means that we aren’t just planning ships and experiences relevant to our cruise guests in the next few years, but to those we will welcome on board as far out as 2030 and beyond. Technology at the service of the guest experience is advancing at a rapid pace and that is why we’ve already invested €20 million in the first two ships alone, to develop technology and infrastructure that is capable of meeting the needs of guests for years to come.”

 

Sign In

Lost your password?