Carnival Corporation's New Digital Companion Makes Cruising More Engaging

Carnival Corporation, the world's largest leisure travel company, has unveiled the Ocean Tagalong™, a customizable digital companion that will interact with guests on Ocean Medallion vacations as well as represent them in interactive games.

The Tagalong is part of the O•C•E•A•N (One Cruise Experience Access Network) Experience Platform that makes its global debut aboard Princess Cruises' Regal Princess in November at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Expected to be a game-changer for the guest experience, the platform enables a personal concierge by bridging the physical and digital worlds to deliver a new level of personalized service not previously considered possible. The Tagalong is the latest in a series of personal and engaging features being invented to significantly enhance the vacation experience.

When guests create a profile within the Ocean Compass—accessible starting this fall on Ocean.com—they will be invited to create their own unique Tagalong. These digital companions will follow them from initial registration to the end of their cruise (as well as rejoin them on future cruises). Everyone who creates an Ocean profile can personalize a Tagalong; cruise bookings will not be required.

Guests can select from three sea creatures—Sea Turtle, Seahorse or Butterfly Fish—to best reflect their "alter ego" and further customize their Tagalong by body shape, color, pattern, marks (like tattoos) and more. Once created, the animated and responsive Tagalongs will appear online within a guest's profile and in interactive PlayOcean games that can be played online, as well as interacting within Ocean Portals found onboard Medallion Class ships. Tagalongs even evolve throughout the cruise, reflecting the personality and interactions of the guest and collecting "charms" that show off their achievements.

Guest Tagalongs also will take center stage in the social gaming experience Tagalong Sprint, which pits guests' digital companions in a fast and fun race across the ocean floor. Guests will tap their personal Compass devices to see who can speed across the finish line first in this rhythm-based group game played on massive digital displays found onboard Medallion Class ships.

"The Ocean Tagalong is a great way for guests to express themselves and gives us the opportunity to engage them in unique experiences that amplify fun and stoke their competitive spirits," said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. "Driven by the Ocean Medallion, guests will be amazed at how their Tagalongs appear in dynamic settings around the ship and delighted by the ways their companions can interact throughout their vacation."

For more information on inaugural Ocean Medallion vacations on Princess Cruises, please visit Princess.Com/Ocean. Inaugural voyages sail to the Caribbean beginning November 15 on Regal Princess.

Image Courtesy of Carnival Corporation