Royal Caribbean Changing the Game with Tech

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd previewed some of the exciting technological innovations it plans to bring to its fleet of more than three dozen cruise ships in the coming years during Wednesday's "Sea Beyond" event in New York City.

The cruise line’s preview of the tech innovations—dubbed Sea Beyond—was staged for journalists at the Duggal Greenhouse, a former warehouse turned design center at the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. It repeated the presentation for some 150 travel agents the next day.

“In today’s world, technology and making things easier is no longer a nice thing to have; people expect it,” said RCL Chairman and CEO Richard Fain. “The pace of change is accelerating and we need to stay ahead of the curve.

“’Frictionless’ is the norm, and that means fast, simple, on-demand, and fully-integrated,” Fain said of technology.

RCL’s tech innovations represent a combination of technologies including facial recognition, RFID tagging, GPS mapping, and Bluetooth-enabled beacons.

The previously-discussed Excalibur smartphone app is easily the biggest takeaway for cruise passengers and the agents who sell RCL.

The powerful new feature promises to make check-in a breeze, as well as signing up for shore excursions, making onboard dinner reservations and ordering drinks to be delivered to your current or next stop on the ship.

Facial recognition technology will allow users to bypass check-in lines while virtual reality and augmented reality experiences will spice up guests' environment at sea. For example, the app can turn the stateroom ceiling into a starry night sky or a digital sign into an arcade game.

Combined with Royal Caribbean's WOW Bands, the app will allow passengers to unlock their stateroom as well as control the temperature and lighting from their device.

"Time spent in line—whether you're waiting for food, waiting or your bags to arrive, waiting on a table, or booking an excursion—is time stolen from your time off," said Royal Caribbean's senior vice president, digital, Jay Schneider, via Cruise Critic.

"Our new app will make it simpler than ever to book and plan your cruise vacation from home or with a travel agent," he added. "Once on board, you can navigate our ships with interactive maps and guides, explore the ship with cool features like x-ray vision, or order drinks that can be delivered to you wherever you are on the ship."

The app is already available in a limited form aboard the Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The cruise company is looking to have 13 percent of its fleet outfitted with the new technology by the end of the year.

Cruise Critic reported Royal Caribbean's digital team will add new capabilities and ship-specific features to the app every six weeks. The company is aiming to have the app operating on 50 percent of its fleet by the end of 2018 and its entire fleet, across all three brands—Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises—by the conclusion of 2019.

READ MORE: How to Design a Cruise Ship

The new smartphone app will play a role similar to MSC Cruises' MSC for Me offering and Carnival Corporation's Ocean Medallion wearable interactive platform, which is designed to speed up the embarkation process as well as provide added convenience and personalization for guests.

Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales, trade support & service, North America, for Celebrity Cruises, told TravelPulse the Sea Beyond tech innovations will help travel agents sell Royal Caribbean International’s brands.

"Travel agents now talk about the ships, the food, the activities, and the experience," she added. "With the new technology, they’ll be able to sell clients on a seamless check-in before the cruise along with enhancements during the cruise."

“This is a game changer,” Ritzenthaler said.

The new-to-cruise, Gen X’ers and Millennials will likely adapt quickly to the new technological enhancements but Ritzenthaler believes other cruisers will eventually do so also.

“And we will still offer all the other traditional ways [of doing things],” she said. “This gives everyone a choice.”

In addition to Excalibur, Royal Caribbean is developing technologies to help reduce its environmental footprint and assist crew members so they can be better suited to anticipate passengers' needs over the course of their sailing.

TravelPulse Senior Writer Patrick Clarke contributed to this report.

Follow @_Pat_Clarke