New wearable technology being pioneered by Princess Cruises will be a key and vital selling tool for agents, the UK boss of the company has said.
Princess Cruises vice president, UK and Europe, Tony Roberts said agents will be trained to advise customers on the use of the Ocean Medallion technology and aid in the device set-up once customers have booked.
Speaking at a launch event held at the Soho Hotel in London on Thursday, Roberts said: “At the moment we are building our training programmes within the agent academy to educate agents on the Ocean Medallion.
“Our field team is also heading out on the road to educate agents too but it is really about agents experiencing it for themselves so we will have agent ship visits on Royal Princess as it comes to Southampton next year.
“Agents can then aid customers in the setting up of the medallion which will really simplify and personalise cruising.”
The Ocean Medallion is a disc the size of a 10p piece and through sensors on the ship will replace plastic key cards.
Guests can create a virtual personalised profile using the app Ocean Compass which is stored on the disc and accessible on ships by cruise ship staff and guests through the Ocean Concierge programme.
Assistant head of product for cruise at Trailfinders, Sean Atton said: “I think it is a great innovation for the cruise industry and cruise customers.
“A lot of people who choose cruise as their holiday do so for the relaxation so this will definitely enhance their experience.
“It will be interesting to see the response from customers and agents and how we will be involved in the device set up process.”
Medallions will be sent directly to customers by Princess Cruises and are unique to each cruise a customer travels on.
They can be used to enter cabins, board ships and order food and drink. It also allows crew members to locate guests on the ship and guests have the option to be able to locate other members of their party.
Crew members will be able to know customer preferences by viewing their profile on Ocean Concierge however Imagine Crusing’s sales and marketing director, Natalie Maye questioned whether there could be a loss of social interaction.
She said: “A lot of people go on holiday on cruises for the social aspect and the personal touch by cruise staff, could this be lost if crew members are just reading from tablets rather than getting to know someone?
“Also wonder how some customers will respond who are not as confident with technology, will agent have to spend longer explaining this to them or will the choose ships which are not Medallion-class? There a lot of questions that can only be answered once it is in use.”
The technology, including 7,000 sensors per ship, will be rolled out on Regal Princess in November 2017, Royal Princess in January 2018 and Caribbean Princess in March 2018.