Carnival Corporation set out to exceed the expectations of its cruise guests and arrived at a veritable smart city on water. Revealed for the first time anywhere on the CES keynote stage, the OceanMedallion™, a small wearable powered by an Experience Internet of Things™ (xIoT), is designed to customize a cruise vacation for each passenger.

Although leisure travel companies are not traditionally viewed as innovative, Carnival is using technology to power the guest experience and has applied advances in sensor technology, artificial intelligence and connectivity to create the MedallionClass experience.

 “We thought CES was the ideal community for us to make the announcement and unveil the OceanMedallion™,” said John Padgett, Chief Experience and Innovation Officer, Carnival Corp. “CES is clearly the apex forum for technology and innovation, and it was a privilege to take the keynote stage and engage with all CES participants throughout the event.”

Carnival unveiled the OceanMedallion™ at CES 2017 and created an interactive experience where media and CES attendees could experience the technology in action. On board MedallionClass ships, the Medallion activates an experience platform using a guest-centric, Experience Internet of Things™ approach that helps maximize the vacation experience in real-time based on guests’ choices and preferences — delivering enhanced personalization across every aspect of a cruise vacation.

The Medallion holds a guest’s unique digital identity and communicates with readers on board, as well as in select ports, and provides crew members with information about each guest to help them provide better service. The Medallion also enables payment, unlocks stateroom doors, speeds up embarkation and much more.

“Each guest is different and the things that make them happy are different,” said Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation.

Raising the vacation bar with IoT, the company’s nine brands operates 106 cruise ships that visit 700 ports across the world, redefining the traditional boundaries of technology and the consumer experience.

The OceanMedallion™ premier garnered better media coverage than Carnival Corporation had seen with any other product launch, totaling more than 14 billion media impressions and more than 550 media placements.

“We received some of the most incredible coverage I've ever seen with any product launch due to the OCEAN innovation falling at the intersection of creativity, innovation, technology, business and travel,” Padgett said.

Already rolling out on the Princess Cruises fleet, the platform is poised to drastically streamline interactions for both crew members and guests. Carnival says that they have only touched on the potential that the technology of xIoT platform and OceanMedallion™ can bring to guests.

“It’s all about the guest,” Donald emphasizes.