The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) has officially announced to support the development of an AI (Artificial intelligence) forecasting project with MarineXchange (MXP), which provides enterprise software solutions to the cruise industry. "Accurate supply chain forecasting is a huge challenge for the cruise industry," MXP said, in a press release ."Because Consumption patterns depend on guest profiles, seasonal items, substitutions and menu cycles. Vendor performance, freight and currency exchange rates need to be considered. The overall CO2 impact, waste reduction and fair trade are additional factors. To aid cruise companies in this complex decision-making process, more accurate forecasts are needed."

Cruise operators are increasingly offering bite-sized breaks along the coast of Australia for domestic travellers keen to explore the island continent.

Move over Alexa… there's a new virtual assistant in town. Passengers on board MSC Bellissima, which will be launched by godmother Sophia Loren in Southampton next month (March 2), will meet MSC's newest crew member Zoe – the cruise industry's answer to the voice-activated digital assistant. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Zoe can speak seven languages and answer over 800 of the most commonly asked questions – with thousands of different variants of each query – providing information about on-board services, suggestions for activities, and even help in booking a specific service. She's easy to use too: all guests need to do is say, "OK Zoe", and she's ready to help. Developed in partnership with HARMAN and Samsung Electronics, Zoe will be able to interact with in-cabin TVs to offer further guidance to passengers and, as with at-home devices, passengers will be able to connect their phones directly to the device via Bluetooth in order to access personal music and podcasts.