BBC Worldwide has officially announced a new global entertainment channel, BBC HD, which will be the first channel exclusively designed for cruise ship passengers.

The new channel will be offered to guests on P&O Cruises and Cunard Line ship, streaming in the cruise lines’ 115,000 cabins from this month. The channel will become available to the wider cruise industry at a later date.

Princess Cruises is to revolutionise the cruise industry with a new gadget called an ‘Ocean Medallion’ which will replace the regular stateroom keycard.
 
The new wearable technology will enable guests to seamlessly open their stateroom doors and make purchases on board and is set to first debut on Regal Princess from November 2017, followed by Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess in 2018 and eventually the rest of the Princess Cruises fleet.
 
The high-tech device will be laser-etched with the guest’s name, ship and cruise date and will be provided to all passengers at no cost. Inside each Ocean Medallion will be numerous communication technologies including Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). An invisible yet complex network of interactive, intelligent sensors and devices will be placed throughout each ship as well as home ports and a range of cruise destinations.
 
The new Ocean Medallions will be in the form of a small disc, which can be accessorised with jewellery, wristbands or simply carried in a pocket.