MSC Cruises has introduced a digital cruise personal assistant as a new feature of MSC for Me, the company’s digital innovation program. This new guest service, developed in partnership with HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., will debut on MSC Bellissima, which is currently under construction at the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.
The company also announced that MSC Bellissima, which will be MSC Cruises’ next flagship, will be christened in the port of Southampton, UK on March 2, 2019. The two announcements were made on March 21 in London at the launch of MSC Cruises’ new 2019-2020 brochure to travel agent partners and media.
The virtual personal assistant for MSC Cruises guests is a conversational, voice-enabled Artificial Intelligence innovation that can communicate, learn and intelligently predict guests’ needs to make relevant suggestions. This new offering will provide guests with tailored information to help simplify and enhance their MSC Cruises experience by providing quick and easy answers to questions from the comfort of their own stateroom.
Unlike other home digital assistants that rely on cloud-based programs with internet-connected devices or applications, this digital offering will be designed around a ship-based solution, customized especially for MSC Cruises’ guests’ needs. Guests will be able to communicate with the new digital personal assistant device in seven languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Mandarin. The personal assistant will initially launch on MSC Bellissima, but will be available on all future new ships and plans are in place to introduce the feature on the rest of the fleet.
The service is the latest feature of MSC for Me, a multi-channel digital experience that is designed to connect guests to their cruise with new technology. It includes the MSC for Me App, in-cabin connected television, and interactive information screens around the ship, among other features. MSC for Me was first launched on board MSC Bellissima’s sister ship, MSC Meraviglia.
MSC Bellissima will become MSC Cruises’ fourth mega-ship to come into service in less than three years and is part of a ten-year, $12.4 billion investment program introducing a total of 12 new ships. She will be a more enhanced version of her sister-ship, MSC Meraviglia, which came into service in June 2017.
For more information, visit www.msccruisesusa.com.
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