Carnival, Jabil Launch Consumer Wearable Production Line in the Caribbean

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Two of Florida's most prominent companies – Carnival Corporation & plc, and Jabil, Inc. – announced they are partnering to launch the first Experience Internet of Things consumer wearables manufacturing and fulfillment location in the Florida/Caribbean region.

Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, is the site of the first Princess Medallion® device manufacturing facility outside of Asia, as Carnival Corporation adds production capacity support for its Caribbean cruises while also boosting economic development by supporting the more than 600 jobs at Jabil's Dominican Republic facility.

"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 IoT 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 for Carnival Corporation. "This development also reflects the continuation of Carnival Corporation's impressive investments throughout the Caribbean to stimulate economic growth and prosperity across the region."

Launched in 2017, the revolutionary Medallion wearable contains a proprietary blend of communication technologies and enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform transforming vacation travel on a large scale into a highly personalized level of customized service.

Currently available on ships from Princess Cruises, MedallionClass vacations leverage the innovation within the Medallion to enable touchless embarkation and disembarkation, frictionless commerce and keyless stateroom entry, as well as dynamic way-finding on board, 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 wearable 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 the cruise line's logo and each disc is laser-etched with the guest's name, name of their ship and sail date.

Inside the Medallion are two microscopic antennas – one utilizing Near Field Communication (NFC) and one utilizing Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The device seamlessly syncs with an invisible Experiential Internet of ThingsTM (xIoTTM) network of readers, sensors and edge computing devices that recognize individual guests in locations throughout the ships and facilitate experiences for them based on location, personal information they provide and onboard interactions.

The Medallion wearables 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. Medallions produced and fulfilled at the Dominican Republic location will ship to Miami for distribution to guests sailing Princess MedallionClass vacations in the Caribbean.

"Jabil is excited about this new partnership with Carnival Corporation and confident that our manufacturing solutions in one of our newest sites will meet the needs of this world-class wearable that elevates the Princess Cruises guest experience," said Mike Mahaz, vice president of global business units at Jabil. "Our facility in Santo Domingo is the ideal location to support this exciting new product, given its proximity and high-caliber talent pool."

In addition to the new manufacturing initiative, Princess Cruises is also growing the number of ship visits to the Dominican Republic during the 2021-22 season by 250%, compared to 2019.