Jabil to produce Carnival's Medallion wearable in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo is the site of the first Medallion wearable device manufacturing facility outside of Asia. This adds production capacity support for Carnival Corp.'s Caribbean cruises while also boosting economic development in the Dominican Republic by supporting the more than 600 jobs at Jabil's facility there.

'The proximity of Jabil's state-of-the-art facilities and factory automation along with its exceptional track record across consumer, medical and military device manufacturing gives us a tremendous opportunity to support the increased demand for our experiential [Internet of Things] wearables and also support good-paying jobs in the Dominican Republic in the highly desirable sector of travel and tourism,' said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer, Carnival Corp. and president, Princess Cruises.

Proprietary blend of technologies

Launched in 2017, the Medallion contains a proprietary blend of communication technologies, enabling an interactive guest experience platform with a personalized level of service.

MedallionClass cruising is currently available on the Princess Cruises fleet. It enables touchless embarkation and disembarkation, frictionless commerce and keyless stateroom entry, as well as dynamic way-finding on board, a family and friends locator, first-run movies on the go, an interactive events and activities planner and interactive gaming.

The quarter-sized, 1.8-ounce disc has no discernible technology — no on-off switch, no recharge needed, no menu to navigate, and is waterproof, heat- and cold-resistant and sand- and salt-proof. The Medallions are emblazoned with Princess logo and each disc is laser-etched with the passenger's name, the name of their ship and sail date.

Microscopic antennas interact with readers and sensors around the ship

Inside the Medallion are two microscopic antennas – one utilizing near field communication and one utilizing Bluetooth low energy. The device syncs with an invisible Experiential Internet of Things network of readers, sensors and edge computing devices that recognize individuals in locations throughout the ships and facilitate experiences for them based on location, personal information they provide and on-board interactions.

The Medallions are being produced in Jabil's 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Bajos de Haina's PIISA Industrial Park , part of the area's fast-growing free trade zone. The wearables produced and fulfilled at the Dominican Republic location will ship to Miami for distribution to passengers on Princess MedallionClass vacations in the Caribbean.

Princess Dominican Republic calls spike

In addition to the new manufacturing initiative, Princess Cruises is growing the number calls to the Dominican Republic during the 2021/22 season by 250% compared to 2019.