Royal Caribbean: ‘Very Aggressive’ on Tech Infrastructure

Posted on 16 April, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

At Royal Caribbean Cruises, the idea is to anticipate the future of technology and get ready for it now.

“I believe that the largest challenges for us are the things that we don’t even know will be coming in the next five to 10 years. There are revolutions coming, things like virtual reality and other things that we don’t even imagine. We need to look at the historical growth of those technologies in the past, focusing on the future,” said Guillermo Muniz, director of satellite and network engineering, Royal Caribbean Cruises.

While cruise lines may plan into the 2020s on the technology front, challenges still remain when it comes to internet aboard today’s fleet.

“Royal Caribbean is being very aggressive regarding infrastructure within the ship. We are investing to make sure we have the infrastructure on our ships to have the correct Wi-Fi and the latest technologies to be able to not worry about connectivity over the next decade,” Muniz said.

The newer Royal Caribbean ships are using a new technology, marketed as Voom, that has significantly improved internet access aboard, helped in part by SES Networks.

“On those ships, the connection is comparable to our home experience. You can stream and watch videos on your devices easily. The amount of bandwidth that we provide to a single user today is the same amount of bandwidth that we provided for our entire fleet in 2000,” Muniz noted.

Royal Caribbean is working on a new boarding process that uses facial recognition to speed up the embarkation. Muniz explained that guests will be able to take a selfie at home, upload it via an app, and then be recognized at the cruise terminal by special facial recognition cameras. The cruise line plans to launch the system over the next few years.

Royal Caribbean Launches Multi-Billion Dollar Private Island and More

Posted on 18 March, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

PHOTO: CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island, is getting some amazing enhancements. (Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean)

Cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean is upping the ante on amenities, facilities and services across its land-based private islands and ships in what company officials described Wednesday as a “multibillion-dollar” effort designed to lure millennial and first-time cruise vacationers to its vessels.

Royal Caribbean’s initiative is highlighted by the debut of a new, $200 million “Global Private Island Collection” at the company’s private island in CocoCay, Bahamas in 2019. CocoCay will be the company’s first private island to offer Royal Caribbean cruisers a “Perfect Day Island Collection,” a series of “unrivalled and exclusive” private island destinations around the world.

Royal Caribbean will eventually expand the program to include its private islands in Labadee, Haiti and at ports of call in Asia and Australia, said Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean’s president and CEO. “We said, ‘let’s apply the same expertise we did in building our Oasis-class ships to our private islands to create the perfect day,’” he said.

Upon its 2019 premiere, guests will find a new CocoCay, transformed with a series of new attractions. The Thrill Waterpark will feature two water towers with 13 slides, which company officials say are the most slides at any waterpark in the Caribbean. The 135-foot-tall Daredevil’s Peak will be the tallest waterslide in North America, they added. The waterpark will also feature the Caribbean’s largest wave pool and a kid-friendly obstacle course pool.

Also scheduled to debut in 2019 is Oasis Lagoon, described as the Caribbean’s largest freshwater pool, with a swim-up bar and in-pool loungers. A 1,600-foot zip line will extend across the island at up to 50 feet high and feature the Caribbean’s only water landing, say officials.

Other attractions will include Up, Up and Away, a helium balloon that will float up to 450 feet above the ground and offer the Bahamas’ highest vantage point. Two specially designed beaches, Chill Island and South Beach, will offer a quiet beach “escape” and an active beach filled with activities, respectively.

Finally, the exclusive Coco Beach Club will offer an upscale island experience highlighted by the Bahamas’ first overwater cabanas.

Royal Caribbean ships departing from New York, Maryland and Florida will offer Perfect Day at CocoCay excursions. The CocoCay program will debut in phases beginning in September with the construction of a new pier. The majority of the island’s experiences will be open by the spring 2019 said, Bayley. Coco Beach Club, the final phase, is scheduled to open November 2019.

“The Perfect Day Island Collection [will] deliver the most memorable vacation for adventure seekers on land and onboard our ships,” Bayley said. “Once completed Perfect Day at CocoCay will be the ultimate family destination in the Caribbean.”

Royal will further court new cruisers via a $900 million program to “reimagine” its fleet through Royal Amplified, a new modernization plan that will span 10 vessels in four years.

The program will impact “every facet of the guest experience,” said Royal Caribbean officials, with innovative new features and experiences, including specialized pool spaces, experiential dining and nightlife concepts, and unprecedented attractions including Sky Pad, a virtual reality, bungee trampoline experience.

Royal Amplified reflects the company’s passion for innovation, relentless attention to detail and commitment to delivering the best vacation in the world. “We’re always focused on how to create phenomenal experiences for our customers,” Bayley said.

PortMiami Set to Continue Record-Shattering Growth Pace

Posted on 14 January, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Discussions are underway for another terminal for Norwegian Cruise Line.

Norwegian Getaway turning in Miami port.

“We do have space. I want that to be very clear, that we have space for growth here at PortMiami,” said Juan Kuryla, port director. “We are growing and need to continue investing.”

Miami is coming off a record year, with 5.3 million cruise passengers, and a similar, slightly better year is expected in 2017-2018. After that, Kuryla is forecasting a continued pattern of record-breaking cruise traffic.

Going from 4.9 million to 5.3 million passengers in a year, the most ever recorded anywhere; Kuryla is juggling multiple projects for a 20 percent bump up in 2019, and even more growth behind that.

“We will likely be at 6.4 million passengers,” he added.

Multiple Projects

The biggest bump up in numbers last year came from Royal Caribbean, with 350,000 more passengers. That figure will grow exponentially when the company opens Terminal A for its Oasis-class ships come 2018.

Talking to Cruise Industry News on a November Monday, there were a staggering seven cruise vessels docked and Kuryla was weeks away from the grand opening of Terminal F, a new facility developed for MSC Cruises and the MSC Seaside.

That terminal is only the beginning, as MSC has bigger plans, including the deployment of the Meraviglia in the Caribbean, sailing from Miami alongside the Seaside in summer 2019.

Discussions are ongoing with Virgin and Norwegian for new terminals.

“Both would be additional to the terminals we have,” Kuryla said. “We are taking some land on the north side from the cargo operations to create a footprint for additional terminals.”

Not to be overlooked, Carnival Cruise Line has been the port’s largest customer dating back to the 1970s and accounted for more than 2 million passenger movements last year. This year the new Carnival Horizon will homeport in Miami after a brief summer in New York.

“We are also in discussions with them on how to work together to accommodate further growth,” explained Kuryla.

‘Total Commitment’

He attributed the growth to a total commitment to the cruise industry not only by the port but by the willingness of elected officials to accept the port’s and cruise line’s recommendations on investments.

New terminal projects must consider not only the space for the terminal, but land infrastructure ranging from parking to utilities, apron needs, traffic patterns and more, Kuryla said.

“The speed at which we need to grow to accommodate new ships is unprecedented,” he continued, “and we are moving quickly.”

Various studies have been conducted on LNG, and the port is moving toward a solution regarding whether bunkering would be a land or water-side operation. Kuryla said he expects Miami to receive its first LNG-powered ship in 2022.