Smart Sailing on Royal Caribbean
Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I received a complimentary invitation to attend a media preview. All opinions are my own.
Royal Caribbean Cruises will soon be offering state-of-the-art digital innovations that will be present in almost all aspects of their cruse experience from check-in to navigation to the state rooms to guest experiences.
Booking your Royal Caribbean Cruise, planning activities and shore excursions p, make dinner reservations and even ordering drinks can soon be done within the Sea Beyond app using your smartphone, smart watch or the new WOW band. I downloaded the app and was prompted to take a selfie which would be the way I would be identified throughout the interactive experience.
The facial recognition technology will now make it easier to check-in without waiting on long lines giving you more time to enjoy your vacation. Within the app, I was able to order drinks and follow it progress from order, to pouring to out for delvery when a server presented it to me just a few minutes later. The app is currently availble on select ships in the RCL fleet and will constantly refined to add new ship-specific features.
The technological transformation also encompasses areas beyond the guest experience, including innovations to make ships more energy-efficient, enhance ship management and put more connectivity into the hands of crew members than ever before.
Some of this new technology will assist with navigation and maneuvering that will be extremely helpful in varying weather conditions and will help officers keep track of guests, especially during emergency procedures where all guests need to be accounted for in a timely fashion.
A view of a virtual Royal Caribbean ship sails on hulls coated with precisely sized micro bubbles to improve fuel efficiency and reduce propeller noise is seen at the Royal Caribbean Sea Beyond event at Duggal Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Wednesday Nov. 8, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff/ Invision for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd./AP Images)
Another cool aspect of the innovations are reducing fuel consumption making the ships more fuel efficient. The evolved hull design reduces drag with RCLs use of an air lubrication system that costs the hulls of the ships with millions of microscopic bubbles that further reduce resistance and drag reducing fuel consumption at speed by 7 to 8 percent.
A concept for future staterooms imagines floors, ceilings and walls that can
change to create a choose your own environment capability as seen at Royal Caribbeans Sea Beyond event at Duggal Greenhouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on Wednesday Nov. 8, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Diane Bondareff/ Invision for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd./AP Images)
We even got a look into the future and entered a futuristic stateroom where you could control the lighting, temperature and even change the scenery to match the actual outdoor scenes in real time…but these innovations are still a little ways away.
Royal Caribbean Cruises is making the cruising experience much more enjoyable with seamless planning, check-in and a truly immersive experience for guests.