Technology is ubiquitous in today’s world, even on enormous ocean liners or trains, the control of technology is a must have these days.
Royal Caribbean Cruise International have decided to implement many modern innovations on their new ship, the Quantum of the Seas known in the industry as the first SMART ship.
The 4,180 passenger vessel that spans 18 decks is scheduled to debut in November 2014. The ship will offer plenty of firsts including a skydiving simulator, a 30-foot rock-climbing wall and a gem-shaped glass capsule named the ‘North Star’, which provides unobstructed views in 360-degrees at 300 feet above sea level.
RCCL announced this innovative technology program onboard the Quantum of the Seas at a media event in Germany. Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reinforced that “Cruise holidays have a romantic past – but they also have a lively, adventurous, state-of-the-art future,” We were determined to take the best advances in modern technology, turn them into shipboard WOW and take the frustration out of the holiday.”
Here are some of the new features that passengers will find on this new ship:
SMART Check-in
The innovations begin before you can even step on the ship. Once a cruise has been booked and it is available online, passengers can then generate their documents, upload their own photographic ID and receive confirmation of any extras that have been added to the booking.
When arriving at the port of embarcation, waiting in a long queue will be a thing of the past and the guests can go directly to the ship in ten minutes or so with no additional papers or forms needed. In addition, passengers with Smartphone’s can track down their luggage in real time, from the terminal to the stateroom.
SMART Concierge
The RFID WOWband wristbands that will be provided to passengers when they first get onboard will offer a wide variety of services. With just a tap of the wrist, guests will be able to see a map of the ship, order goods and unlock their room and much more, all on a digital display.
On-Ship Apps
There are two applications provided onboard that will also improve service. These apps can be downloaded on the ship or from the App Store. Cruise Planner allows passengers to book items such as spa and dinner appointments in advance whereas the iQ system will allow cruise goers to keep in touch with what’s going on at home and see what’s going on with the day’s programme.
SMART Connect
For those that are bringing their own computer equipment like laptops, tablets or Smartphone’s, there is no need to worry. The Quantum of the Seas is going to boast perhaps the fastest connection at sea, with a blazing fast bandwidth connection. The connection is going to be provided via satellites owned by O3b Networks.
Access will be provided 24 hours a day and many features will be included. You can use the Seapod with the Quantum collection to play your XBOX Live on the ship with others.
BOT Crew Members
Even some members of the crew have gone techie. One interesting feature is the ‘Bionic Bar’, where passengers order drinks on tablets and actual robots are the mixologists. Robots are further used in Two70 with the Roboscreens. There are six Roboscreens in total and they depict different scenes, often merging or combining the video footage together.
Her inaugural voyage is an 8-night transatlantic voyage departing from Southampton on the 2nd of November.
Quantum of the Seas homeport will be at Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey. She will be sailing on 7 to 12 night journeys to the Caribbean and the Bahamas up until spring of 2015. Afterwards, Quantum will call Shanghai her new home and will be doing 3 to 8 night sailings in China with ports of calls in Japan and Korea beginning in June 2015.
Written by Veronica Shine
