Why Princess needs to invest more in tech...

[avcruz]

•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.

 

 

That's great - I can get on the ship faster so I can spend more time waiting for my cabin to be ready for occupancy...

 

 

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[ggprincess2004]

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

 

Yup, they had to copy the thing RCL did and take away the aft top deck lounge. Too bad.

[Illyria]

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 (mostly) agree :) I'm 35, work in healthcare IT, and I look forward to being completely offline for the duration of my cruise vacation.

 

I do like my tablet, but I mostly got it to watch pre-loaded movies while on a plane or in a gym (like while running on a treadmill...because that's the only way I can motivate myself to spend more than 5 minutes on a treadmill!)

 

I'd rather have cruiselines not cutting corners when it comes to staffing and focus on true customer service than invest money in gimmicks.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Illyria

[Disconnections]

Note: Love your snarky grammar signature. :D

 

Thanks :D

[Cruise Junky]

Just saw this on another board. I can see the wrist band being super convenient in instances discussed here

 

*************

From what RCI is saying on their Twitter page, issuing a SeaPass will still be done for each guest. The wristbands will be placed in the cabins and when you arrive at your cabin, if you choose to activate the wristband you can do so at an iQ station on the ship, where you will be charged $2.00 and the wrist band will be set up to your account. Otherwise you can toss it in the trash or wherever and not use it at all. Or, you can activate the wristband and only used it when it is convenient, such as for spending time in the pools, the gym, running on the track, or going ashore to a beach, where the classic cruise card can be a problem. For other times you can leave the wristband in the cabin (the safe would probably be a good idea) and just use the SeaPass card.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I'm a huge fan of the wristbands at Disney. Just used mine this past weekend again. I would love it if Princess would start using this technology.

[piper28]

Odd, tried to quote the original post and it didn't work.

 

I see a lot of this as mainly ways to try to save money for RCCL, not necessarily primarily intended for convenience for the passenger.

 

The faster boarding thing and uploading your own picture? I'm skeptical that that's going to have much of an impact on things. A) Someone's going to have to compare the photo to the person at some point in the process, and b) someone's going to have to actually check the passport. Right now, if everything was filled out online, the longest part of the check-in procedure for me has been the time it takes for them to walk halfway across the building to find your cruise card. (I've always thought this particular part seemed very badly organized, at the very least, pull the Elite and Platinum cards and put them down near the agents handling the preferred check-in, it'd save them a lot of walking).

 

Oh, and rfid wristbands? No thanks. I don't even wear a watch, I'm not interesting in wearing a wristband to access things. And my guess is it'll rapidly go from optional to required (or they'll make you feel like a leper if you have to dig out your card instead of making life easier for the crew by having the wristband).

 

Robot bartenders equals a way for them to make sure the pours are measured properly.

 

The environmentally friendly lighting and room stuff of course has nothing to do with being environmentally friendly and everything to do with saving money (nothing really wrong with that, but it's laughable that companies claim they're doing it for environmental reasons). I do always worry when they start with things like that that they'll go to the key in the slot turns everything including the a/c on/off stunt that some hotels do. I've always hated that system.

 

Wonder what will happen for a crew member that was given a tablet but manages to break it. Are they going to be expected to replace it themselves? Company replaces it? If they're expected to have on and use it for work purposes, it's going to be one of those options.

 

Downside to faster internet service is then you have to wander around with everyone in public spaces deciding that they need to have loud obnoxious skype conversations in public.

[notentirelynormal]

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!

 

My son will be 31 this year and has been cruising for many moons. He is Ellite (so free internet). At home his computer and cell phone are hard wired to his brain. I have never seen him turn on a computer even once while on a cruise. My 3 YO grand daughter can use cell phone apps like a champion. As a matter of fact, none in our group has except for a rare occasion - like we forgot to leave our passport info with my DD when we went to the Med and I needed to get it to her to check in on line for us. We are on vacation to have fun as a family and reconnect. We are not there to sit on a computer. If we wanted to do that we would just stay home and ignore each other there.

Edited August 26, 2014 by notentirelynormal

[Loonbeam]

I think some people (myself included) may have strayed from my original point. I wasn't intending to debate the merits of wristbands or robots but pointing out that other lines are making significant investments in tech, and Princess/CCL does not appear to be and that will be to their competitive detriment..

 

Now, if they were investing in something else to be a differentiator, that would be ok, but they don't appear to be. Royal and regal appear to be very nice ships, but certainly not groundbreaking. And I don't think anyone can make the case they are investing in entertainment, food or staffing.

 

I've said before that Princess can easily fill cabins from the pool of casual/new cruisers, but I am starting to wonder that if they don't keep up with the industry, that will not be a given indefinitely as new, younger cruisers will want the shiny toys, even if current cruisers are a bit meh on one or mote of them. Quantum and Anthem of the seas are generating HUGE buzz for new features. Anyone raving about the next Royal/Regal Class? Anyone? Anything innovative coming out of HAL or Carnival besides burgers?

 

Side note, from what I can tell, all intership functions on RCCL will be free in terms of wireless.

[Tuscan]

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.

 

I agree. But, they have dropped the ball on their two new ships. :( You can't breed class if you were born from JUNK.

[Host Jazzbeau]

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...)

 

On the other hand, RCL's Celebrity and Azamara lines' websites are so awful that there are constantly threads on those forums complaining about the BAD tech!

[Renmar]

I can see it already, a ship full of zombie like people with their eyes glued to their iphones bumping in to each other or tripping over robot vacuum cleaners. People sitting in the dining room texting to the person accross the table or ordering their food which will be delivered on a conveyor belt. I can go on and on with this, you probably can too. For me the human interaction is more important than all this tech stuff.

Ofcourse I like some of it but I think we have to draw the line somewhere.

 

Theo

 

Sent from my GT-P7510

[caribill]

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".

 

Bandwidth is the problem now and that is the problem being solved on the newest RCCL ship.**

 

Internet response on a Princess ship is much, much faster at 3 AM than it is at 5 PM. It is just at 3 AM not much of the bandwidth is being utilized.

 

** As I understand it from past RCCL press, the faster Internet technology will only be available from certain satellites and initially these will only be in the Caribbean.

Edited August 26, 2014 by caribill

[caribill]

if you choose to activate the wristband you can do so at an iQ station on the ship, where you will be charged $2.00

 

I wonder if that will cut down on their use.

 

Some will say that if you are spending $2000-$3000 for a cruise, that $2 is just a little bit more.

 

Others will say that if you are spending $2000-$3000 for a cruise, that the $2 fee should be included already.

[caribill]

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

 

As shown below, like an industrial robot in an auto factory.

Edited August 26, 2014 by caribill

[Thrak]

I have nothing against technology. As a systems analyst for the state it pays my salary. However, one of the things that hooked me on cruising was the human interaction. I love interacting with the crew who treat me like royalty. Yes, I understand that they are paid to do so but many of them can be so very friendly and I find them genuinely interesting. I love hearing about their lives at home, about how my waiter's grandmother makes a special dish with fiery peppers. Technology won't give me that. Only human interaction will do so.

 

Technology (when it works properly) can be a great assistant to life but it seems to me that it is being given an inordinate amount of our attention and is dehumanizing us. Do people really have to receive another text every 3 minutes? Is anything really that important or compelling? I was at the eye doctor for an exam the other day. There was a prominent sign asking people to please silence their phones while in the waiting room. One woman and her son had their phones on. She received no fewer than 6 calls while I was waiting and her son received at least two dozen loud text alerts in the same time. REALLY???

 

I turn off my phone when I hit the ship. I "might" turn it on when in port but am just as likely - probably more likely - to leave the thing in the safe. Being on vacation, especially on a cruise, should be relaxing and renewing. It shouldn't be more of the same old C**P that people have in their everyday work lives.

 

If the technology comes to Princess I will deal with it and hope for the best. I just hope it doesn't change the way they do things too much. Sure, some things could be done better but, as far as I'm concerned, for the most part Princess handles things just fine and I really am able to Escape Completely.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I think the technology aspect is great, but personally go on a cruise to escape, including from being beholden to technology...

 

I absolutely agree, but it seems the younger generation has little concept of privacy or downtime. The newbuilds will be catering to their demands for 24/7 connectivity. I just hope the cruise lines don't force it on the rest of us!

Edited August 26, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...If the technology comes to Princess I will deal with it and hope for the best. I just hope it doesn't change the way they do things too much. Sure, some things could be done better but, as far as I'm concerned, for the most part Princess handles things just fine and I really am able to Escape Completely.

 

I hope it doesn't change too much, either. If the day comes I need an app to order a meal or an RFID bracelet to open a door on Princess, I'll book with HAL. My guess is they will be the last holdout with regard to forcing tech changes on passengers.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[Iamcruzin]

I am puzzled by the fact that RCI seems to be pouring a lot of money into technology for Royal Caribbean while Celebrity doesn't even have a reliable website to book a cruise or prepay your account. There is always an issue on their site and their board has many threads of complaints. I'm not impressed with the idea off ordering food off of a tablet. I did it once on Celebrity in their specialty restaurant it really wasn't a big deal and nothing that I would be willing to pay for. I would be willing to pay for a way to text someone I was traveling with on the ship. These ships are getting to large to have to walk back to the room to read a post it note to find out where someone in your party might be. As far as the wrist bands go it reminds me of wearing a hospital id bracelet or being on house arrest. DW won't wear it if it doesn't match her outfit.

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

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!

 

Just look what they've done on the two new ships. They won't even allow switching the input to view you DVD's. I think they're headed for pay-per-view movies in the near future on all their ships.

[pablo222]

I can see it already, a ship full of zombie like people with their eyes glued to their iphones bumping in to each other or tripping over robot vacuum cleaners.

 

I thought on disney they has some sort of onboard cellular phones

that worked only on the ship.

 

I would really like on board texting -- something that let me message

others on the ship without a carrier fee.

 

And, the last time I was on emerald some crew were using tablets.

They had two in the lido that they were using to enter drink orders.

Then, a bar runner would deliver the drink. Seems like a system

that would get drinks to customers a lot faster.

 

They also has the same sort of system in the show lounge.

[kendon]

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.

 

Agree that robot bartenders is an awful idea!! Half of the fun at a bar is the interaction with the one making your cocktails.

 

I noticed the automated wine "vending machine" on the Summit and thought it was horrible.

[billco]

Just look what they've done on the two new ships. They won't even allow switching the input to view you DVD's. I think they're headed for pay-per-view movies in the near future on all their ships.

All you have to do is unplug their HDMI cable and plug in your own. Worked very well for me on the Royal.

[azdmelani]

I absolutely agree, but it seems the younger generation has little concept of privacy or downtime. The newbuilds will be catering to their demands for 24/7 connectivity. I just hope the cruise lines don't force it on the rest of us!

 

Given that I am in my early 30s, I (hope) I am still considered part of the "younger" generation :)

[KarateMan]

I have been reading reports all around the internet about this high tech ship and to be perfectly honest I think the technology is far too extreme and I literally roll my eyes at the insane thought of it.

 

One example. Mobile phone app tracking of suitcases where the cruise line tags the suitcase on check-in and you can watch its progress on the screen of your smart phone.

 

Now to me if you are on a cruise ship (the best place in the world to be) and the only thing you can think of is sitting down and watching a phone screen to find out where you bags are, then afraid you have serious problems!!!

 

If anything it is going to give the stand up comedians a lot of laughable material.