I-PAD in Every Cabin......

[Sea42]

I gather the iPads will do a lot of things for free i.e. check your account, book shore excursions, reservations for restaurants and spa etc. As well as charged internet etc. It will also elimante a lot of the paper based items sent to cabins. Much like some ships interactive TV but delivered wireless = less installation costs?

 

I would not be suprised if they will have targeted adverts based on your onboard spending. I gather that the cruise line involved is also boosting the amount of bandwidth available so the connections will be better for the charged internet access that will also be avaialble through the iPads.

 

As for cost I guess that if you are buying 1000+ iPads then you get them at less than retail price!

I could see it's use for these type of things and would probably use one for doing that if one were provided. I just wouldn't be interested in using it for the internet.

[sail7seas]

Only if they can increase the internet connection speed. :) BTW .. Nice to meet U at Margaritaville last week S7S.

 

 

Really nice meeting you, as well, Einstein. I enjoyed our chat. :)

Was a really nice day at Grand Turk when we were there.

 

Hope the rest of your cruise was great.

[sail7seas]

Would having I-pads reduce manpower requirements. Have us book our own specialty restaurant reservations, check our on board accounts, shore excursions, enter our onward travel plans so they can coordinate for disembarkation......

 

The more we do for ourselves, the less they require crew/staff to do???

 

[Sea42]

Would having I-pads reduce manpower requirements. Have us book our own specialty restaurant reservations, check our on board accounts, shore excursions, enter our onward travel plans so they can coordinate for disembarkation......

 

The more we do for ourselves, the less they require crew/staff to do???

 

That's a good point. It's overwhelming the effect computers have had on the number of jobs available in many industries. Many new types of jobs created but many more lost forever.

[ASIWISH]

Would having I-pads reduce manpower requirements. Have us book our own specialty restaurant reservations, check our on board accounts, shore excursions, enter our onward travel plans so they can coordinate for disembarkation......

 

The more we do for ourselves, the less they require crew/staff to do???

 

 

I'm in the minority here, but I think it's not only a great idea, but a great question!

 

Tablets, iPads or not, will be finding their way into our lives more frequently. Last night's restaurant had one for everyone as a menu. They could instantly, delete items they were out of... change prices day to day based on commodities... and track orders, to help with inventory... pretty slick, and ultimately offering the possibility to lower costs for everyone...

 

Cool thread Sail!

[fann1sh]

Since HAL seems to have a sweetheart deal with Microsoft, perhaps we ought to think in terms of "tablet" rather than "IPad".

 

It's taken HAL years and years to get a working interactive website. Based on that, it might take a long time before they'd crack tablet technology sufficiently to eliminate jobs, IMO.

[Hawaiidan]

if they offered it I would stop using Holland.

 

I sail for the ambiance of the sea. Not to be connected by some techno-toy.

[ASIWISH]

if they offered it I would stop using Holland.

 

Seriously?

So, and Apple one day would keep Hawaiidan away.....

 

(alright, that was a really bad joke, but I could resist! :D )

[jkrislc]

Would having I-pads reduce manpower requirements. Have us book our own specialty restaurant reservations, check our on board accounts, shore excursions, enter our onward travel plans so they can coordinate for disembarkation......

 

The more we do for ourselves, the less they require crew/staff to do???

 

 

It might, but it could also reduce costs in other ways. For example, perhaps those spa and sale fliers could display on the iPad instead of being printed out. In addition, you might be able to submit your room service order, at least for breakfast, via the iPad, which would mean no one would have to go around picking up the hang tags. I also agree with others that this would be a cost effective way to add interactivity to the cabins without rewiring them all to support new interactive TV systems. Notice that it wasn't one of the newer ships that RCI opted to add the iPads to.