When Royal Caribbean released more details about the Quantum of the Seas on Monday, there left little doubt in anyone’s mind that this new cruise ship will be industry changing and the most technologically advanced cruise ship ever built.
The Quantum will be offering Smart Check-in, which means that there will literally be no check in when you get to the pier. Most of the things required for check-in will be able to be done at home, including taking a selfie for your security photo. The goal of this new check-in process is to get passengers from the sidewalk to ship within 10 minutes and eliminating long lines. Traditional check-in will still be available for those who aren’t as tech savvy.
When your bags are dropped off with the porters, they will place a RFID tag on them. This will allow passengers to see in real time where their luggage is and follow the 7 steps the luggage takes to reach their stateroom. This will be done with a downloadable app on smartphones and tablets.
The Quantum of the Seas will kiss goodbye to the current cruise ship internet speeds that bring back the glory days of AOL 5.0. The Quantum will have more broadband that every other cruise ship in the world COMBINED. This will allow for internet speeds that passengers are used to at home and will allow for video streaming on Skype, Facetime etc. Passengers will also be able to stream Netflix, although with all that the Quantum is offering, it is doubtful many passengers will spend their time at sea streaming Netflix.
The Royal iQ will be a downloadable app and will be provided at freestanding iQ stations around the ship. This will allow passengers to make the most of their cruise with convenient calendars, details about the cruise, and the ability for passengers to keep in touch with each other via phone and text capabilities.
Every crew member onboard every Royal Caribbean cruise ship will be receiving a tablet to allow them to keep in touch with family back home, all 40,000 crew members.
The Bionic Bar will have robots that make drinks for the passengers. There will be a tablet for ordering and the robots will make and mix the drinks.
The ship will also be going green in a number of areas. All of the light bulbs on the cruise ship will be LED or Fluorescent. Nothing from the ship will go to a land based bump. Everything will either be reused, recycled, or incinerated.
The Quantum of the Seas will also be introducing WOW Bands which will allow passengers to make onboard purchases, serve as their room key, and navigate their way around the ship. The bands will cost an additional $2 each.
Royal Caribbean is using all of this new technology to give the passengers and crew members a better experience. They will be able to better track passenger’s preferences and tastes, to offer even better personalized service.
The Quantum will be comprised of 80% balcony staterooms, 10% oceanview staterooms, and only 10% inside staterooms. The inside staterooms will have floor to ceiling virtual balconies that will give passengers a live look at the view outside.
The Quantum of the Seas will begin sailing out of Cape Liberty in November 2014. All photos are courtesy of Royal Caribbean.
I wish Carnival would do this.
I guess there will be nobody to tip @ the Bionic Bar…15% cheaper drinks, it will be very crowded!