MSC Grandiosa will be MSC Cruises’ sixth connected cruise ship featuring the so-called MSC for Me and the second to feature the industry’s very first virtual personal cruise assistant entitled ZOE.

Since its introduction onboard of MSC Meraviglia in 2017, digital innovation programme MSC for Me has been expanded to four more ships: MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, MSC Bellissima and MSC Splendida, with the prior three having their port of registry in Valletta.

In fact, MSC Bellissima arrived at the Valletta Cruise Port as the 16th ship joining the global feet of MSC Cruises, and the first of two vessels set to come in the Grand Harbour of Valletta this year, according to a press statement issued by the Valletta Waterfront.

MSC for Me is a multi-channel digital program that enables guests to interact with the ship and crew members to better serve their needs, save them time and really get the most of their cruise.

As an expansion of the program, MSC Cruises first introduced the world’s first virtual personal cruise assistant called ZOE on the MSC Bellissima in March, an artificial intelligence (AI) voice-activated technology. Speaking seven languages, ZOE answers hundreds of questions about the cruise, provides information about onboard facilities, offers guidance and suggestions, and help book services.

“Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at MSC Cruises, and technology does not stand still. Since launching our industry-leading digital innovation program MSC for Me in 2017, we continued to research and implement the latest technologies that are specifically designed to enhance our guest experience, ensuring that they can make the most of the rich array of services, activities and facilities that we offer on board our ships,” commented Gianni Onorato, CEO of MSC Cruises.

New interactive programmes

MSC is also adding new onboard services called the “Friends & Family” and the “MSC for Me Chat”, helping guests to stay connected with the people they are travelling with. All these innovations are designed to save valuable time for the guest that they can spend more time enjoying their vacation.

In order to help guests plan their cruise prior to departure, each passenger can download the MSC for Me app.

Before embarking, guests can benefit from choosing pre-booked experiences, pre-register a credit card and mobile check-in on embarkation day. While aboard, they can purchase a wristband to locate friends and families at any time. Guests are also able to message each other through the app and enjoy their time together.

The post MSC adds digital upgrade to yet another ship first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The service launching today enables users to book GoTo cars three months in advance and use them for longer periods — such as hours or days. This comes as an addition to the originally available one-way service, where users pick the car up, and after reaching their destination they leave the car at one of the 450 designated spots. In the case of the latter, the car can only be reserved 15 minutes prior to the ride, and once left behind, other users can take it.

The new service is be operated by 30 Toyota Yaris Hybrid 1.5 cars, which come as an addition to GoTo’s fully-electric core fleet of 150 Renault Zoes at the time of publication. The so-called roundtrip cars will have designated parking spots where users can collect them and the cars must be returned to these very spots after use. Nevertheless, while booked, these cars can be parked anywhere and will wait for the user where they were left off.

“The minimum period for hiring a roundtrip Toyota car is two hours. We believe this offers a great opportunity for business people when they need to attend meetings. They will know surely that the car is waiting for them after the meeting, right where they have left it. We paid special attention to business hubs when deciding on the designated spots for these cars,” Mr Golan tells BM about the new service.

As the Toyota hybrids will be available for longer hires, the fuel needed for the combustion engines will be covered by GoTo staff. However, should the users need to tank the cars, GoTo will offer a selection of fuel stations where the clients just need to top up the car and GoTo will pay the bill.

Launching new mobile app

Additionally, to the new service, GoTo is also launching its new mobile application, further streamlining the services the carsharing company offers to clients.

In the past month, the company was running a test-phase of the new service and the new app, all having been tested by its clients. They received GoTo services for free for this period, in exchange for helping debug the operations.

Developing its infrastructure, GoTo is currently installing charging stations to charge its electric cars. Under the public tender GoTo won last year, it has to install a total of 225 charging stations. At the moment, they have 60+ charging stations and counting. Mr Golan is positive that all the charging stations should be finished by the end of this year. Once GoTo reaches its goal, Mr Golan says that these stations might be opened up for public use, whereas now they are exclusively available for GoTo cars.

Although GoTo was only launched in November, Mr Golan says that demand for car sharing has been high. The company currently receives 570 reservations a day from over 6,000 registered clients, out of whom 3,700 are monthly active users.

The post GoTo launches complementary ‘roundtrip’ service today first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.