Carnival Cruise Line uses NAPA solutions for data-driven safety and efficiency

How the largest cruise company in the world* is using NAPA’s solutions to power cruise safety and efficiency decisions – both onboard and onshore.  

*based on passengers carried

We interviewed Piervalerio Vignola, Director FOC, Carnival Cruise Line earlier this year at NAPA Safety Summit 2023 on how the largest, and most technologically advanced Fleet Operations Center in the cruise industry is planning to use safety and operations data from various NAPA’s solution to optimize their operations. The short answer is – collaboration. Vignola and his team are working with NAPA to build the right tools, that not only capture the data, but turn them into meaningful and actionable insights ready to support the crew’s and shoreside decisions.  

Here’s what he had to say (edited excerpts):  

Collaborating to create the right tools 

“The biggest challenge is that sometimes we work in silos. With NAPA, I had a great experience since I joined Carnival in 2014. I started using the product when I was an officer onboard. And then, coming ashore, I had this great opportunity to work directly with NAPA. So, I was able to take my experience from on board and see where the improvements should be made.  

And thankfully, I had the opportunity to have a great friendship with the people of NAPA so that we can work together and create some tools that are beneficial for the officers on board.  

Because, sometimes, most of the decision makers are people from shore side with very little experience of the shipboard operation. So, on board, they just received something new, but maybe it is not really what will make their life easier.  

So, from my side, I have all the ability to share my experience, and I’m sure it’s all always well received by NAPA, and that makes me feel, you know, proud and good about it.  

There is a two-way conversation, it’s not just another manufacturer that is creating something or selling something. There is a real interest to create something good that really solves a problem. 

Not just data: Decision-support and actionable insights 

We definitely gather a lot of data, tons of data, terabytes of data every day. But the percentage of data that we use is very little. That’s because we need technology to use this data. We are still used to downloading the data, use the old spreadsheet, and analyze it in that way.  

Of course, there are departments with experts who use Tableau or Power BI to crunch, to analyze the data, but I think moving forward, we have to stress more and use more artificial intelligence and machine learning to really make good use of all this data and provide feedback to the operator. I mean, if we look at aviation, the airplanes are not operated by the pilots. They are just there in case something happens. Probably that is a bit extreme for the cruise industry, but maybe that’s the direction towards where we are going and where we should be. So, to have experts on board to react in case something goes wrong, but the major of the task should be suggested by machines. 

We are on the right path to a better future. We are on the right path to a greener future. But still, there is a lot of work to do. “