Royal Caribbean’s rollout of RFID wristbands will be gradual

Posted on 11 November, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean RFID wristband FORT LAUDERDALE — Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. President Adam Goldstein said it will be several years before the Sea Pass wristbands being used for room keys on Quantum of the Seas can be rolled out fleetwide.

Goldstein said the radio-frequency identification (RFID) wristbands are simple, but they go hand-in-hand with a new shipboard property management system that takes a fair amount of time to install.

“The next-generation embarkation and the RFID bands will kind of follow that process,” Goldstein said in a speech at the CruiseWorld conference, a Travel Weekly event.

Royal Caribbean will proceed ship by ship with the installations. He did not say which would be the next ship in line for Sea Pass.

Goldstein said that older ships such as Majesty of the Seas that look their age next to Quantum have been given extended life by adding newer features in scheduled drydocks.

“We’ve found across the board — and this is industrywide — that we’ve been able to inject a lot more features from the newer ships onto the older ships than probably any of us thought possible.”

He also noted that RCCL has six brands and that older Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships such as Majesty of the Seas have traditionally migrated to its other, primarily European, brands.

Goldstein said pressure on concessionaires to be more efficient has resulted in smaller footprints for areas like the photo gallery on Quantum. That has freed up more space for a variety of extra features that make the ship more exciting overall, he said.

CruiseWorld Goldstein said he’s never been a big fan of the contemporary-premium-upper premium-luxury continuum that many use to label the market segments of the cruise business, and that the edges of those categories are increasingly blurring into each other.

“If you’re in a loft suite on Oasis of the Seas, you’re in a pretty luxurious product,” he said.

“Very often our bigger brands are the second choice for couples that are normally cruising on small luxury ships,” Goldstein said. He said those passengers want the attributes of a large ship with all of the luxury amenities of a small one. “It is an interesting marketing challenge.”

Quantum mechanics: Robot bartenders and RFID wristbands

Posted on 4 November, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

By Tom Stieghorst

SOUTHAMPTON, England — Quantum of the Seas is bound for the U.S., departing on a transatlantic trip to New York following a two-night preview cruise here.

About 2,700 travel agents, vendors, media and VIPs were treated to afirst look at the ship, fresh out of the Meyer Werft shipyard where it was under construction for 20 months.

Although Meyer Werft typically delivers early, according to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman Richard Fain, with Quantum it was just on time. Numerous items are being installed or fine-tuned on the crossing, which is expected to conclude Nov. 10.

The ship’s headline features have been publicized, but the preview cruise group got to see some of the less heralded innovations, and learned a few obscure facts from Fain and other Royal executives.

For example:

• The oversized magenta bear on Quantum’s top deck has been named Felicia by the crew. At a travel agent forum, one agent said she doesn’t know how to explain it to clients and wondered why it was there. “Why not?” Fain replied. “The bear is a little bit ridiculous and certainly unexpected, but isn’t she great?”

• More than 100 bottles of liquor are suspended from the ceiling over the two robotic bar tenders in the Bionic Bar. The robots reach skyward to access pours for the drinks they make. Bar managers believe they will have to restock only once a day. The two ’bots have been dubbed B1O and N1C by supervisors.

• Hand-washing basins have been installed at the entrances to the Windjammer buffet restaurant, and at several other restaurants around the ship. The basins are not an industry first — Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess and Regal Princess have them — but they are a first for Royal Caribbean. The idea is to keep passengers from spreading any illness, norovirus in particular.

• The poolside video screen was installed to the side after Fain concluded that its initial spot at the end of the pool was too obtrusive. One manager said Fain ordered the change. Fain says he doesn’t remember who suggested the move. “If you like it, I take credit for it,” he said.

• Two candelabras in the Wonderland restaurant feature lighted candles. Fain said Royal Caribbean banned open flames for more than 20 years but recently has made some limited exceptions approved by a panel of top executives. He said there is no Coast Guard rule on flames. “I think the candles add to the atmosphere,” he said.

• Metallic was the scent picked to add a sensory note to the North Star observation gondola. The smell is very subtle. North Star’s ascent to a position 300 feet above the ocean is smooth, gradual and silent, except for the whir of an air changer in the roof. The gondola is designed to automatically shut down and retract if sensors detect an unexpected motion.

• The pool areas in the Solarium contain several feet of water, deeper than on other Royal ships. They form a series of tiers, leading to a level with hot tubs on either side. A sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa is a focal point for the cascading pools.

• Jamie’s Italian, the specialty restaurant by British culinary entrepreneur Jamie Oliver, is the first alternative restaurant on a Royal Caribbean ship to have an al fresco dining area. The glass-shielded deck space has five tables for two and six tables for four.

• The Windjammer on Quantum will be the first one fleet-wide to have a section open 24 hours a day. The decision was made in part to accommodate demand anticipated when Quantum moves to China next May.

• The Schooner Bar menu has a retro theme. It features throwback classics such as the Old Fashioned, Sidecar, Brandy Alexander and daiquiri. The printed menu includes vintage photos of memorabilia, such as a typewritten Passenger Landing Card from 1974 and a drinks list with Budweiser priced at $1.35.

• Four key cards malfunctioned. Quantum offers RFID wristbands as an alternative to key cards. “Normally, we would have hundreds of key cards with [magnetic] strips that had become de-magnetized,” Fain said.

Quantum of the Seas: It’s familiar yet innovative

Posted on 3 November, 2014 by Spacejunkie2

SOUTHAMPTON, England — For all of its innovation, Quantum of the Seas will be familiar to anyone who has traveled on Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom-class ships. The footprint for Quantum is a step back from the radical ship design of Oasis of the Seas.

Quantum doesn’t have a Viking Crown Lounge, and the central promenade is a little different than on Freedom- and Voyager-class ships. But the overall impression is of a Freedom-class ship with a number of very innovative features bolted on to the prototype.

The “wow” features are new, of course. The North Star observation gondola looked quite inviting on a beautiful fall day before Quantum’s departure on a two-night preview cruise here.

The SeaPlex, an open indoor rec area, looked like fun with its bumper cars idling along its sides. It feels airy and open, with lots of windows illuminating the space so it doesn’t feel dim.

The Ripcord by iFly commands the aft part of the upper deck, along with a hulking magenta bear sculpture that serves as a conversation piece and is a bit unlike anything else on a Royal Caribbean ship.

The big attention-getter so far, however, has been the Bionic Bar. Crowds are consistently watching the two robotic bartenders pour their libations. There is something fascinating about the precision movements of these blue, impersonal robots.

Interior cabins are brightened by the floor-to-ceiling virtual balcony screens, another add-on that has also been installed on Royal’s Navigator of the Seas.

Perhaps the most noticeable change on Quantum is the number of restaurants, with the main dining room split into five new themed dining venues. Yet even here, the complimentary restaurants are in their usual place on the lower aft decks, except for Coastal Kitchen, a new concept for suite guests only, which is high on Deck 14.

Windjammer and the Solarium, also on Deck 14, are staples of Royal’s recent ship layout. The line’s trademark design elegance, quality materials and attention to detail is there, too.

The windows on the Two70° lounge (named for 270-degree panoramic sea views) at the back of the ship look enormous, defining the rear profile of the ship. But I have not seen the evening entertainment programming yet in Two70°, nor in the Music Hall, or the Royal Theater.

Another standout feature of Quantum is the poolside movie screen, which is mounted to one side of the pool, rather than at the end of the pool as on most designs.

The passenger mix on this two-night cruise reflects Royal Caribbean’s increasing international outreach. There was a noticeable contingent of Chinese guests, who were there to see the ship in anticipation of its deployment to Shanghai starting in May 2015.

June Arlen Eggesbo Lundeby, general manager of USA Spesialisten, a travel agency in Oslo, Norway, said that Quantum will appeal to clients from Norway who will combine a cruise with a pre- or post-cruise stay in New York.

“Cruise in Norway has been booming,” Lundeby said, as appreciation grows that on ships such as Quantum many passengers are not retired, and that it is a relative bargain.

“The prices are of big interest,” Lundeby said. “You would never find the same value in a four-star hotel vacation in Miami Beach,” she said.