Princess Cruises has announced that its next ship will be home to the first-ever permanent venue themed to exclusive Hollywood club the Magic Castle. Called Spellbound by Magic Castle, the venue is due to debut on the Sun Princess in February 2024 and is on course to feature the world’s most cutting-edge magic show.
Magicians aren’t renowned for using high-tech equipment. Famous for top hats, trap doors and wands, they often rely on sleight of hand to make people wonder how they pull off their tricks. However, every one of the 30 guests who step through the hidden door into the old-fashioned anteroom at each seating of Spellbound will come with some tricks of their own. They will be put to good use.
With its wood panelling, gilded paintings and roaring fireplace, the ante room resembles a Victorian drawing room. It is inspired by the decor of the Magic Castle, a three-storey mansion which was built in 1909. Sitting at the foot of the Hollywood Hills it looks like a fairytale fort with turrets and battlements. In 1963 it was taken over by Milt Larsen, William Larsen Jr. and Irene Larsen who converted it into a private clubhouse for members of the Academy of Magical Arts and their guests.
The club is more than just a meeting place for magicians, it is also home to a team of performers who showcase their skills to guests in the lounges, bar and restaurant. Known for having standards as strict as the most exclusive country clubs, its management has long banned denim, hoodies, sneakers and shorts. It is in-keeping with the formal furnishings which include wooden balustrades, bookcases, grandfather clocks, leather-bound seats, chandeliers and purple velvet curtains.
It is designed to reflect the turn-of-the-century era when the mansion was built and iconic illusionist Harry Houdini was at the peak of his fame. Princess hasn’t just recreated this mystical setting for Spellbound, it has also infused a story into it.
The venue includes a vintage parlor bar featuring a character called Artemis the owl who will be revealed through interaction with skilled illusionists. Guests will also meet the spirit of Isabella who will share her stories of sailing on the Sun Princess. Then comes the main event as guests head into Spellbound theater for a close-up magic show.
“We are bringing some of the most authentic aspects of The Magic Castle in Hollywood to Sun Princess, complete with incredible magicians and illusionists, so that Princess guests can experience a taste of the world class magic that is showcased nightly at the Magic Castle,” says Erika Larsen, president of Magic Castle Enterprises.
Spellbound is one of the most eagerly-awaited concepts in cruising as it follows the launch of 360: An Extraordinary Experience. As we have reported 360 was a pioneer of gastro theatre and is hands down the most innovative dining experience at sea. Princess didn’t dive in head first with Spellbound and instead it tested the water with a week-long cruise featuring performances, workshops and lectures from Magic Castle magicians as well as magic-themed movies, meals and cocktails. The success of this proved the appetite for the format and gave the Magic Castle a chance to dip its toe in the water of themed entertainment.
In 2018 it licensed its brand to Chinese tech and entertainment firm Novaex for use in theme parks, hotels, and restaurants in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. They don’t appear to have got off the ground yet so the Magic Castle remains shrouded in secrecy for most travellers. That will change with the opening of Spellbound as Larsen explains. “It’s an exciting opportunity for guests to immerse themselves in a magical experience typically reserved exclusively for members and their guests.” That’s just the start.
Unlike guests of the original Magic Castle, visitors to its outpost at sea will take part in the experience as it will feature interactive special effects. In order to pull them off, Princess has a trick up its sleeve that few other venues, let alone cruise ships, can compete with.
Called the Princess MedallionClass experience, it was introduced in 2017 and involves all of its guests being given a button-like wearable wireless transmitter which interacts with devices scattered all over the ship. In technical jargon, it turns the ship into what is known as an Internet of Things (IOT) – a network of interconnected systems which are embedded with sensors, software, network connectivity and electronics to enable them to collect and exchange data.
In practical terms, it gives guests the kind of freedom and flexibility that could previously only be dreamed of on a cruise. Anyone who has been on a cruise liner knows how similar the floors and corridors can look. It’s usually easy to get lost but not with the MedallionClass button as it can connect to an app on your phone to pinpoint your precise position and even the location of others in your group.
Guests store their name and personal preferences on the app so staff at bars and restaurants know who you are and what you usually order before you get to the front of the queue. It doesn’t stop there. If you place an order at the bar and then rush out to the deck to see a school of dolphins in the sea, the server can use the system to locate you and bring your drink over. The button can even be programmed to open the door to your room as you walk up without needing to touch it.
It’s easy to see how the the MedallionClass system could be used to create spellbinding effects in a magic show. There will be no need for mind-reading tricks to guess guests’ names and likes or dislikes. A source close to Princess reveals that the system “will indeed be used to optimize the personalization of the experience but we’re not able to go into detail. Would hate to ruin the surprise.” A glimpse into the kind of interactive special effects it could create comes from an unlikely place.
Wearable wireless devices have been used at Walt Disney
DIS
One is themed to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and sees guests interacting with the scenery by touching the MagicBand to artefacts scattered around the landscape. Waving your hand over a rusty-looking cannon near to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction causes smoke to billow out of it before it appears to fire at a bell across the path which rings loudly.
Effects in other parts of the landscape include a treasure chest that swings open, a giant hourglass that spins and two ships in bottles that start swaying and shooting at each other when the MagicBand touches a panel below them. Eventually one of them sinks and a symbol is illuminated on the shelf below to tell the player where to go next. It gives guests the impression they are on a scavenger hunt following in the footsteps of pirates.
Combining effects like these with actual magic tricks would be even more immersive and would make guests feel like they are actually doing the tricks. There is good reason why the Princess system has the capability to do this.
Princess’ visionary president John Padgett is one of the most respected and talented innovators in the leisure industry. During an 18-year tenure with Disney he invented and implemented many of the most groundbreaking guest engagement developments at its theme parks including the FastPass+ queue-cutting system, the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique princess-themed children’s makeover outlets and the Be Our Guest restaurant which replicates the ballroom scene from Beauty and the Beast.
Padgett holds 35 patents covering everything from itinerary scheduling to digital experience interaction platforms and, crucially, wearable devices. The reason for the latter is that he developed Disney’s MagicBand technology and although it cast a powerful spell, he had even grander plans in mind.
“The reality is it only accomplished half of the equation that I had envisioned,” he says. “It took friction out of the overall experience. The math behind it was if you eliminate friction, you increase consumption. And so that was the principle behind the Magic Band.
“The other 50% of it was if I can individually recognize you, I can give you a personalized experience and a personalized experience is more valuable than a commodity experience so it’s worth more.” However, he adds “the reality is that the personalization element was before its time. The MagicBand is no doubt the leader in eliminating friction from an entire experience spanning a complete city or destination but what it did not do was deliver personalization at scale. My passion was to finish that job.”
Padgett did precisely that when he joined Princess’ owner Carnival Corporation in 2014 as its Chief experience and innovation officer. One of his first tasks was building a new software platform from the ground up as well as the sensors, buttons and the rest of the hardware that interacts with it. He explains this “means that every guest, in real time at any scale, is recognized as an individual with their needs, wants and desires. It allows Princess crew members to interact and deliver service to guests in a personalized way on some of the largest cruise ships in the world.”
Even though he developed the system, he is still impressed by what it can do. “The fact that you could order a drink standing in a bar and decide that you want to head up to the Lido deck, and without you doing anything, your drink shows up to you while you’re in motion. It is beyond comprehension.”
Padgett describes the system as being “by far the most advanced experiential IoT that exists on the planet and is operational at any scale”. He adds that Princess has only just begun to scratch the surface of what it is capable of.
“Let’s just say that at this point, there’s a lot of capabilities that we haven’t manifested yet and so we still have a lot in our tank.” Come February we might find out what tricks are left in its spell book.
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