Why Princess needs to invest more in tech...

[Tuscan]

Will the robot listen to your troubles? :) I can see that as a one-time curiosity, but I don't know how many people would want to sit and watch a "robot" make a drink.

 

Faster Internet sounds good.

 

Not to mention, will RCCL include an automatic 15% tip for every drink the robots make? I love chatting with the bartenders. It adds to our experience.

 

Faster internet, review of my Portfolio via cabin TV and going back to larger balconies on their newer ships are up my alley.

[Cruise Junky]

I won't be sailing if using RFID chips.

 

 

Part if the announcement today was you could still get a sea pass card if you wanted

 

 

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[Thrak]

RC is not just investing in technology; they are investing in their future. Sorry, but senior cruisers are NOT the future; young cruisers are. Younger people don't want to be told they need to disconnect for a week a sea; they expect to be able to be connected wherever they are. Cruise lines are competing with all inclusive resorts for that generation's business, and needed to step up to the plate. As I've said before, RC is doing so much right when it comes to securing their future, and this is just another example of that.

 

You make a very good point. I work in a tech field and like to disconnect on a cruise but the younger people can't stand not to be connected all the time. I refuse to even do social networking. :)

[Disconnections]

How would it work in the casino? Currently you put in your card. They would need to change out or modify all of the slots to recognize the wristband and then you would need some sort of extra ID process to make sure the person next to you didn't get to play off of your wrist band.

 

When I was a Cast Member with The Walt Disney Company, we were all given access to an iPod touch with an RFID Sled when we started to enforce Extra Magic Hours as resort guests only for those with a MagicBand. For the first few months, any guest was given the benefit of the doubt for EMH, as long as they were wearing a MagicBand. Security at the resort entrances also use this to verify dining reservations at the resorts. The RFID Sleds are also used at the auto plazas to verify you are an onsite guest for complimentary parking.

 

I'm assuming the casino will have a very similar system in place. Your age and photo will most likely be presented to the casino dealer after they scan your RFID wristband.

[Thrak]

I won't be sailing if using RFID chips.

 

Wow. That seems like a pretty strong stance to take... Do you have a particularly compelling reason not to cruise with that sort of technology or is it more of an "anti big data" stance? Just curious as giving up cruising seems a drastic step.

[peety3]

But definitely, it'd be great if they upgraded the Internet connectivity to something resembling modern broadband speeds.

Remember that there's absolutely nothing that the cruise lines can do about the latency of Internet connections at sea. Even at the speed of light, it's at least 1/4 second for your web page request to get beamed up to a satellite then back down to the ground. Depending on where that ground station is, it could be 100ms for the web page request to get to the server and the response to return to the ground station, then 1/4 second back to the satellite and back to the ship, resulting in bare minimum 600ms lag time. The bandwidth could get better, allowing long-duration flows to work, but short interactive stuff like lots of clicking through a website to get the scores from one particular game, etc. are always going to be "lagged".

[Love.II.Cruise]

These are some of the items RCCL is putting on their new ship classes (and I am sure some will be retrofitted during dry docks in the future...) Imagine if just the communication system was on the Royal and Regal? Think opinion of the ships in some quarters might be different?

 

This is important not only because of the impact on the passenger experience, but the crew experience as well..

 

Italics are my emphasis.

 

 

• Improved check-in and boarding process. In addition to the typical online check-in process, passengers can upload photo IDs ahead of their cruises. They'll be issued digital boarding documents, which Royal Caribbean says will help them get on the ship in less than 10 minutes, with no lines and no forms to fill out when they arrive to port. Also, suitcases will be tagged with radio-frequency ID devices at port that will allow passengers to use their mobile devices to track their luggage en route to their cabins. The same devices will be used to allow for luggage tracking when passengers disembark.

• Apps for better scheduling and onboard communication. Two new apps will help passengers plan the details of their cruises. Cruise Planner is designed to be used ahead of the sailing, giving passengers the opportunity to book spa appointments, shore excursions and dinner reservations from their mobile devices ahead of their sailings. Once onboard, passengers can use Royal iQ in lieu of the printed daily schedule. Royal iQ will also allow passengers to communicate with one another while onboard Quantum of the Seas. Passengers will also use RFID wristbands rather than the traditional keycard to gain entry to their cabins and make purchases onboard.

• Super-fast Internet. Partnering with Ob3 Networks, Royal Caribbean has hooked into satellites that will allow passengers to experience Internet speeds akin to what they might find on shore: Fast enough, the company says, that passengers could watch streaming video, share vacation photos via social media and video conference with loved ones at home, options almost unheard of when it comes to Internet on cruise ships, which is notoriously slow.

• Tablets for the crew. Royal Caribbean is giving Microsoft tablets to every crewmember on Quantum of the Seas, theirs to keep as well as use to better track passenger preferences. Crewmembers can also use the tablets to communicate with their families at home. The line will eventually give tablets to every shipboard employee fleetwide -- 40,000 total.

• Robot bartenders. While Royal Caribbean has revealed little about the bars and lounges on Quantum, today's announcement provided a glimpse into at least one space, dubbed Bionic Bar. Here, passengers order cocktails via tablets, then watch as robots mix their drinks.

• A green commitment. All lighting on Quantum of the Seas will come from LED or fluorescent lighting, and hallways will feature motion-sensitive lighting; when no one is around, the halls will dim, conserving energy. Cabins, too, will feature environmentally sound lighting systems.

 

I agree! On our last Princess cruise in a Mini-Suite (Pacific Princess) we couldn't even hook up our laptop to the TV to watch DVDs we had! We even had their "IT" group come down and check it to make sure the HDMI was enabled and still no go. We do this in every hotel we stay in and have never had an issue. We've also done this on several other cruise lines with no issue.

 

This being said, I'm almost positive we could do it on Island Princess, which we sailed on two years before. The standard across ships is not the same. :(

 

This is a simple example. Princess needs to step up their ball game on technology across the board!

Edited August 25, 2014 by Love.II.Cruise

[ggprincess2004]

I don't need a lot of high tech stuff to keep me cruising Princess, but more bandwidth that would result in a more responsive internet would be wonderful.

 

I like my cruise card - a wrist band could ruin my suntan!!!!!! (Tan lines from a swimsuit are bad enough:eek:;) )

 

If it takes me time to figure it out and for some reason I flunk making the reservation(s) etc., I am not going to be relaxed. I will come back older, not new. Well, I will feel old and inept.

 

So......if they are going to do this they better make it very user friendly - intuitive interface, simple menus and prominent change - cancel buttons.

 

And another random thought - perhaps some of the younger demographic that is being discussed finds cruising attractive because, they can, indeed, disconnect and not be available 24/7 to the office, etc. Check the e-mail, tell the office no phone, no text, not much communication and get away with it! When I was still working one of the things I loved most was that I was not available to my workaholic executive director who thought all his Sr. Directors needed to be available 24/7, crisis or not. Escape completely - oops, showing my age with that one????

[Thrak]

When I was a Cast Member with The Walt Disney Company, we were all given access to an iPod touch with an RFID Sled when we started to enforce Extra Magic Hours as resort guests only for those with a MagicBand. For the first few months, any guest was given the benefit of the doubt for EMH, as long as they were wearing a MagicBand. Security at the resort entrances also use this to verify dining reservations at the resorts. The RFID Sleds are also used at the auto plazas to verify you are an onsite guest for complimentary parking.

 

I'm assuming the casino will have a very similar system in place. Your age and photo will most likely be presented to the casino dealer after they scan your RFID wristband.

 

 

I was thinking more of how you now put your cruise card into the slot machine and the machine pulls money from the card or puts money onto the card. With RFID it would, perhaps, get a little more tricky.

 

Note: Love your snarky grammar signature. :D

[billco]

Will the robot listen to your troubles? :) I can see that as a one-time curiosity, but I don't know how many people would want to sit and watch a "robot" make a drink.

 

Faster Internet sounds good.

Will the robot do knock knock jokes? Siri won't.

[JF - retired RRT]

It would be nice to see many of these tech updates on Princess ships. However, I have no desire to watch a robot make a drink for me. Instead of paying an employee, lets charge the same price for drinks and let the profit go straight to the company, including the cost of the tips added on every drink order. I would refuse to order drinks this way and would definitely avoid this bar altogether. Just my opinion of course...

That was my thought - will they still charge a gratuity? Can the robot save it in "his" bank account?

[KarateMan]

I am in my 30's and in the technology generation and would rather have a cruise ship with no internet communication and no mobile phone reception. I go on holidays to enjoy myself. I do not care about keeping in touch with people back home. Holidays are my time and I only care about myself.

 

As for tablets and other forms of technology. I cant see the benefit of having them. I for one will never purchase, use or want to touch a tablet, ipad or anything like that due to their inferior and substandard technology.

 

When I use a computer back home it is mainframe or laptop with a lot of power and a massive screen. I do not care for small things.

[ggprincess2004]

I am in my 30's and in the technology generation and would rather have a cruise ship with no internet communication and no mobile phone reception. I go on holidays to enjoy myself. I do not care about keeping in touch with people back home. Holidays are my time and I only care about myself.

 

As for tablets and other forms of technology. I cant see the benefit of having them. I for one will never purchase, use or want to touch a tablet, ipad or anything like that due to their inferior and substandard technology.

 

When I use a computer back home it is mainframe or laptop with a lot of power and a massive screen. I do not care for small things.

 

Like!!!!

[Thrak]

I am in my 30's and in the technology generation and would rather have a cruise ship with no internet communication and no mobile phone reception. I go on holidays to enjoy myself. I do not care about keeping in touch with people back home. Holidays are my time and I only care about myself.

 

As for tablets and other forms of technology. I cant see the benefit of having them. I for one will never purchase, use or want to touch a tablet, ipad or anything like that due to their inferior and substandard technology.

 

When I use a computer back home it is mainframe or laptop with a lot of power and a massive screen. I do not care for small things.

 

I take my tablet for reading. I read a lot and can carry a bazillion books on my tablet. My phone, on the other hand, gets turned off and stuck into the safe when on the ship.

[lovevacadays]

I think it is awesome that RCI will be giving their employees tablets. The other technology sounds amazing as well.

[Thrak]

I think it is awesome that RCI will be giving their employees tablets. The other technology sounds amazing as well.

 

The employees, on the other hand, may not be all that excited if they are required to carry the tablet with them at all times.

[AdGuyMG]

I think it is awesome that RCI will be giving their employees tablets. The other technology sounds amazing as well.

 

Some will be getting tablets, while others, like bartenders will be getting pink slips.

[Cruise Junky]

Some will be getting tablets, while others, like bartenders will be getting pink slips.

 

Oh puleese. One bar has robots making drinks out of dozens onboard. It's cool, it's new and innovative. It does not put bar tenders out of work :rolleyes:

[ggprincess2004]

Robotic bar tender - gimmick! It won't get me to buy a drink just to watch the thing mix a drink. I can watch it make another suckers drink.......

 

Princess doesn't need gimmicks, they need solid fundamentals and class.

[rdsqrl]

Being forced to wear a wristband sounds like being in the hospital -- or the expensive seats at Nationals Park. With the latter, however, you get close-up views of that adorable Gio Gonzalez. I'm not persuaded that there is any concomitant enjoyment on a cruise persuasive enough to require me to wear a wristband.

 

My take on this is that it's all just technology for the sake of technology. And, of course, for the cruise line to cut costs somewhere along the line. But people will be snowed because they get all blinded by the sparkly high-tech shuffle. Kind of funny . . . and sad at the same time. To take one example: I don't want to track my bag on its journey from port to cabin; I just want them to deliver the damned thing before the muster drill. Instead of pausing to scan it, just bring up the bloody elevator.

 

 

[Cruise Junky]

Robotic bar tender - gimmick! It won't get me to buy a drink just to watch the thing mix a drink. I can watch it make another suckers drink.......

 

Princess doesn't need gimmicks, they need solid fundamentals and class.

 

And what would the skywalk be? Oh yeah, a gimmick

[Cruise Junky]

Being forced to wear a wristband sounds like being in the hospital -- or the expensive seats at Nationals Park. With the latter, however, you get close-up views of that adorable Gio Gonzalez. I'm not persuaded that there is any concomitant enjoyment on a cruise persuasive enough to require me to wear a wristband.

 

My take on this is that it's all just technology for the sake of technology. And, of course, for the cruise line to cut costs somewhere along the line. But people will be snowed because they get all blinded by the sparkly high-tech shuffle. Kind of funny . . . and sad at the same time. To take one example: I don't want to track my bag on its journey from port to cabin; I just want them to deliver the damned thing before the muster drill. Instead of pausing to scan it, just bring up the bloody elevator.

 

 

 

You're not forced to wear one. Sea pass cards are also available. They have OV cabins though ;) and cabins for singles

[M4dC0w]

Robotic bar tender - gimmick! It won't get me to buy a drink just to watch the thing mix a drink. I can watch it make another suckers drink.......

 

Princess doesn't need gimmicks, they need solid fundamentals and class.

 

robotic bartenders, won't be in the form of an actual humanoid robot. Not like you see in TV.

 

All it will be is basically a vending machine that will dispense drinks

[EdmPair]

Will the robot listen to your troubles? :) I can see that as a one-time curiosity, but I don't know how many people would want to sit and watch a "robot" make a drink.

 

 

 

Faster Internet sounds good.

 

 

I am of mixed mind on the robot bartenders. On my left hand, I like gadgets and

it would be fun to see it once or twice. However, it does mean either I walk to the

bar or somebody still delivers it. On the right hand, I do not watch the barkeeps

mix drinks now. What would I care if a complex vending machine makes my drink?

 

I feel safe in ignoring this 'tech' when looking at future cruises. Now internet speed...

 

Later,

M

[RickEk]

Oh puleese. One bar has robots making drinks out of dozens onboard. It's cool, it's new and innovative. It does not put bar tenders out of work :rolleyes:

 

And if it proves popular and cost-effective??? :rolleyes: Yeah, then it will be trying to find that one bar that has a human bartender... :) That'll be the novelty. "Wow, Granny! You used to have people make drinks??!!" :p