Princess Cruises has announced a new dimension in its connectivity partnership with SES and will become the first global cruise ship fleet with early access to SES’s O3b mPOWER network augmenting the Princess MedallionClass experience as it scales across the fleet, according to a press release.

SES is enabling global, high-performance connectivity to Princess using its hybrid medium earth orbit (MEO) and geostationary (GEO) network through 2023, according to a press release. 

The O3b mPOWER from SES will ensure that Princess MedallionClass Ships are not constrained by traditional bandwidth capacity plans, according to a statement. SES said it will keep bandwidth ahead of demand with multi-Gbps capacity whenever and wherever needed. 

“The future is now with real solutions and proven technology delivering real experiences to floating smart cities around the globe powering a coveted experience. SES integration into the Global Experience and Innovation team not only provides world-leading connectivity technology and fuelling OceanMedallion capabilities, but most importantly provides expertise that is passionate about creating amazing experiences through the fusion of creativity, story, connectivity and media across the world,” said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. “Our first joint creation, MedallionNet, has significantly elevated the cruise experience for our guests and crew, but more importantly stimulated the creation of leading-edge, cloud-based edge compute models that were previously considered impossible.”

“The relentless focus of the Princess Cruises and Carnival Corporation’s Global Experience and Innovation teams to create personalized, simplified and connected guest experiences inspired us to push the boundaries of the connectivity norm at sea, and set a higher benchmark for connected guest experiences,” said JP Hemingway, CEO of SES Networks, the data-centric business unit of SES. “With MedallionNet, we helped deliver a new and holistic model that sets an entirely new standard for cruise ship connectivity around the world. By extending and expanding our Premier Innovation Partner relationship, we are leveraging our unprecedented position in multi-constellation satellite networks and consistently focusing on delivering high performance and pushing the envelope of what’s possible.”

Throughout 2020, Princess Cruises will host a series of events leveraging MedallionNet powered by SES to demonstrate that guests no longer need to worry about slow internet speeds and unreasonable connectivity costs. Planned events include:

• February 11, a record-breaking Vow Renewal onboard the Regal Princess, Royal Princess and Crown Princess will be shared with loved ones around the world during a massive pre-Valentine’s Day ceremony.
• March 29, Grand Princess will become the first Princess MedallionClass Ship sailing exclusive Hawaii itineraries.
• June 15, Enchanted Princess will join the MedallionClass fleet.
• August 16, Emerald Princess will become the first to transform into a MedallionClass ship while sailing Alaskan itineraries.
• October 20, Coral Princess launch event from Los Angeles.
• December 20, Island Princess transforms into a MedallionClass ship and will be the first fully connected cruise ship to sail in the Middle East in early 2021.