RCL announces fleetwide technology overhaul
ROYAL Caribbean Cruises has promised to eliminate “time stealing moments from its cruise experience” with a technology overhaul across its fleet.
The company unveiled a number of digital innovations aiming to eradicate checkin lines, introduce new onboard experiences, equip crew members to anticipate passengers’ needs and improve the energy efficiency of its fleet.
Many of the changes stem from an app, which the company aims to make available across its 48ship fleet over the next two years.
The platform allows passengers to sign up for shore excursions, order drinks to be delivered to where they are, make dinner reservations, navigate the ship using interactive maps and guides and explore the vessel using “x-ray vision”.
The app, along with the next generation of the company’s WOW bands, will allow pax to unlock their staterooms & control lighting and temperature.
The platform is already available on select ships and RCL will continue to refine the app, with the goal of having it enabled on about 15% of the fleet by the end of the year and more than double that by the end of 2018.
“Consumers are buying experiences now, not things,” said Richard D. Fain, RCL’s chair & ceo.
“So we are creating ways for them to design vacations rich in made-to-order, memory-making moments, and even providing recommendations based on what they have enjoyed before or shared with us about their preferences,” he said.
The innovation aims to return time to guests, by allowing pax to board ships “in the time it takes to order fries from the drive- through” and other experiences through a combination of technology including facial recognition, RFID tagging, GPS mapping and Bluetooth.
RCL will introduce virtual reality and augmented reality experiences and provide a suite of tools for crew.
The release includes technology to enhance ship management, energy efficiency, reduce fuel consumption & it will preview use of fuel cells for power generation.
In Jan Carnival Corp unveiled its technology platform called Ocean Medallion, which offers many similar features and aims to personalise the cruise experience & customise service ( CW 05 Jan).