This is my mate Sture Myrmell - the President of P&O Cruises.
Well, maybe I'm waxing lyrical, he's not really my 'mate' but we have met and I must say he's a very polite, charismatic and friendly person. Also coincidentally, we were both on last year's Christmas Cruise on the Eden with our respective families.Anyway, yesterday details about a new onboard app was released and has already been rolled out on 4 of the 5 P&O ships: Pearl, Dawn, Jewel and Eden. The app will go live on Aria on the 14th December, hopefully. I had caught wind of this new app a few months ago and was immediately intrigued. Called WhatsOn, the free-to-use app gives guests the ability to "make bookings and share experiences in real time throughout their cruise."
Now, I'm not sure how it works as I haven't seen or used it yet, but apparently once you're connected to the ship's Wi-Fi on your personal devices, it gives "a new way for holidaymakers to stay in touch during their trip." So what does this all mean?
Well, off the bat, it means: 1) I can't hide from my kids and husband in the Casino playing 1c pokies. 2) It also means that I don't spend hours walking round in circles looking for my traveling companions.
I know lots of people have different ways of staying in touch while cruising. Walkie-talkies, for instance. We bought walkie-talkies to take them on board, but forgot to pack them, so we didn't use them, so this last anecdote was pointless.
The next function is that guests can book shore tours and view their account. This means: 1) No waiting in line at the shore excursion counter to book a tour or at reception to find out how much you've racked up in gambling/cocktail/shopping bills.
The app also provides the daily schedule. This means: If you've lost your Pacific Daily, you can still find out what time Bingo is on, You can create a daily schedule of activities you want to do and not get anxious about missing anything.
IMr Myrmell had this to say: "We’re delighted to be able to offer this easy-to-use technology free of charge to all our guests to help them stay connected during their holiday and provide easy access to onboard and shore experiences. It’s as simple as connecting a personal device to the P&O Wi-Fi and opening a browser to discover everything WhatsOn has to offer. Never again will our guests suffer from FOMO or wonder which restaurant or bar their friends are in. This app will be the new must-have item for all PO guests.”
There is also one more piece of exciting news. P&O is introducing new cash kiosks which will allow guests to transfer money onto their cruise card without needing to queue up at the front desk. This means: 1) No more tiresome queuing up wasting valuable relaxing/drinking/sleeping/dancing time.
According to Mr Myrmell, us Aussies are used to self-service, and these new technologies will "empower" guests, giving them more time to enjoy their holiday. I do have a few questions though, and hear me out.
While the app is free, do guests still have to pay for internet to connect? Is this a cost-cutting initiative and a decline in customer service? The end of face-to-face contact? Will it mean the end of the Pacific Daily? I love that daily newsletter! Will people miss out on restaurant bookings if they don't use the app? Will this isolate older cruisers who do not use smartphones/devices? Will guests now be glued to their phones instead of getting away from technology? I mean, isn't cruising all about escaping reality for a while and being uncontactable? If you're encouraged to 'check-in' and 'like', would it become a mini-Facebook?
Until I get to use it, the jury is still out for me. I'm anticipating a few teething problems, and a PR campaign is desperately needed to inform and educate. P&O if you're reading this, I'd suggest a 30-second video so people can see the app in action. After a bit of digging, I found out that there isn't a physical app to download, all you need to do is connect to Wi-Fi and open a browser. On the surface, it seems fresh and interesting. But who cares what I think, what do you all think?
