MIAMI, Jan. 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, today announced its revolutionary OceanMedallion™, the wearable device that powers the breakthrough guest experience platform behind MedallionClass vacations, has been awarded the 2019 IoT Wearables Innovation of the Year by IoT Breakthrough as part of the independent organization's 2019 IoT Breakthrough Awards program.

The IoT Breakthrough Awards recognize innovative technologies and exemplary companies that are driving innovation in the internet of things (IoT) market around the world. This year's program attracted more than 3,500 nominations globally in a range of IoT categories, including industrial and enterprise IoT, smart city, connected home and home automation, connected car and more. All award nominations were evaluated by an independent panel of IoT industry experts, with the highest scored nominee being named the winner in each category. Additional 2019 winners include Samsung Electronics, GE Appliances, Dell Technologies, Toshiba and Sony.

"Carnival Corporation is the first non-traditional technology company that we've recognized with one of our IoT Breakthrough Awards, and it's well-deserved because of the significant innovation it has created," said James Johnson, managing director at IoT Breakthrough. "We are thrilled to recognize Carnival Corporation with the 2019 IoT Wearables Innovation of the Year award for the way the OceanMedallion is already transforming the vacation experience and the very high bar it has set for how IoT will be delivered to mainstream society in coming years."

Originally unveiled by Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, at CES 2017, the Medallion™ device persistently connects a cruise guest's unique digital identity with an intelligent shipboard Experience Internet of Things (xIoT™) ecosystem to enhance guest-crew interactions and deliver a high level of personalized service on a large scale. The device enables all aspects of an elevated guest vacation including hassle-free payment, keyless and personalized stateroom access, frictionless embarkation, on-demand services and more.

The award is the third prestigious recognition Carnival Corporation's patented IoT innovations have received in the past three months. In November, CES recognized the company as a CES 2019 Innovations Award Honoree for OceanMedallion. In December, the company received a 2018 Gold New York Design Award for Digital IoT for its Ocean guest experience platform.

"It's an absolute honor to have OceanMedallion selected by IoT Breakthrough as the IoT Wearables Innovation of the Year and to have Carnival Corporation be considered among some of the most well-respected and game-changing companies in the world," said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. "This is the third award in three months for our Ocean innovations, and while the accolades are gratifying, our greatest joy is seeing more than 99 percent of our guests adopting the Medallion technology to enhance their overall cruise experience, and the considerable excitement they have for the portfolio of new capabilities."

OceanMedallion and the company's xIoT guest experience platform currently are transforming vacations for guests sailing on Caribbean Princess and Regal Princess from Princess Cruises, the world's largest international premium cruise line and one of Carnival Corporation's nine cruise line brands. Guests are enjoying an extensive portfolio of OceanMedallion-enabled features, specifically designed to enhance the vacation experience, including:

• Keyless Stateroom Entry: Access to stateroom becomes a seamless experience where each guest is securely validated and the door automatically unlocks, with personalized greetings and loyalty level recognition on the welcome portal.
• OceanNow™: Using smart devices, guests have the ability to place a food or drink order and have it delivered directly to them in food and beverage locations throughout the ship.
• MedallionPay™: An easy-to-use payment experience, enabling crew members to focus on guest interactions.
• Ocean Casino™: On smart devices and select portals, guests can wager real money on a portfolio of games, including slots, poker, bingo, roulette, keno and lottery from anywhere on board.
• OceanCompass™: Leverages the Ocean Medallion to enable point-to-point wayfinding throughout the ship. Ocean Compass guides guests throughout their journey, providing directional information so they can seamlessly navigate to their next point of interest.
• JourneyView™: On portals throughout the ship, guests can access a real-time look at their itinerary, along with events and activities taking place during their cruise.
• OceanView™: Guests can stream more than 100 hours of award-winning Ocean Original travel content – which airs nationally on weekends on ABC and NBC – to their smart device anywhere on the ship at no cost.
• PlayOcean™: On portals located shipwide, guests are able to play family games, including trivia, word jumble, a matching game and Ocean Treks Adventure – an interactive, shipwide digital scavenger hunt.

About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Australia, Europe and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Cruises (Australia), Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises (UK) and Cunard.

Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 105 ships with 242,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 20 new ships scheduled to be delivered through 2025. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

With a long history of innovation and providing guests with extraordinary vacation experiences, Carnival Corporation has received thousands of industry awards – including recognition by the Consumer Technology Association™ as a CES® 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree for OceanMedallion™. A revolutionary wearable device that contains a proprietary blend of communication technologies, OceanMedallion enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform transforming vacation travel on a large scale into a highly personalized level of customized service. The prestigious CES Innovation Awards honor outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.

Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.princess.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.seabourn.com, www.pocruises.com.au, www.costacruise.com, www.aida.de, www.pocruises.com, and www.cunard.com.

About IoT Breakthrough
IoT Breakthrough, part of the Tech Breakthrough Awards organization, is devoted to honoring excellence in internet of things technologies, services, companies and products. The IoT Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of IoT companies and products in categories, including Connected Home and Home Automation, Connected Car, Industrial IoT (IIoT) and Smart City, Consumer IoT and more. For more information, visit www.IoTBreakthrough.com.

SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc

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