cruiseship
Latest
Royal Caribbean uses fuel cells to power cleaner cruise ships
It's not just ground-based transportation that could stand to benefit from clean-running fuel cells. Cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean has revealed that it's developing a new class of ship, the Icon, that will run on liquified natural gas fuel cells. The move would dramatically reduce the harmful emissions from the vessels (the company hints they'd output nothing more than water) without compromising on reliability or safety. Boats wouldn't be stuck if they have to dock somewhere which can't offer natural gas, either, as they could rely on distillate gas in a pinch.
Royal Caribbean's latest ship sports a robot bar, super-fast connectivity
Assuming you weren't traveling on the Carnival Ecstasy or Crown Princess, your last cruise ship probably had flushing toilets and 24/7 electricity, but not much else in the way of tech amenities. Royal Caribbean's latest vessel, the Quantum of the Seas, promises so much more. We've already met the ship's Virtual Balconies, which use 80-inch displays to bring a live sea view to windowless staterooms, but the company just announced a slew of other features, including a new venue called Bionic Bar where you can place an order on a tablet and watch a robotic bartender mix up your concoction.
Tour the world's largest cruise ship with Google Street View
From electrical system breakdowns to backed-up toilets and even a capsized ship, it hasn't been a great decade for the cruising industry. Even when your trip goes off without a hitch, you'll probably be eager to disembark after a week in close quarters with 2,000 other families -- even on the world's largest cruise ship, the nearly 1,200-foot Allure of the Seas. Fortunately, that vessel is now open for virtual tours, courtesy of Google's Street View, so you can see what cruising's all about. You can stroll (or click) through some of the more popular "neighborhoods," such as Central Park or the Royal Promenade (a shopping mall). You can also check out five of the 26 restaurants, from Chops Grille to Cupcake Cupboard, or the "Family Fun" areas, such as the H2O Zone water park or the onboard ice rink, all from the comfort of your spacious hotel room.
Idle observations after a long vacation
In case you haven't noticed, I've been absent for a few weeks. My wife and I just returned from a 15-day cruise from Dover, England to Barcelona, Spain via Belgium, the Atlantic coasts of France, Spain, and Portugal, and then up the Mediterranean side of Spain to Barcelona. It was an amazing trip, and as always there were things I noticed during my travels that pertain to my work here at TUAW. Here are some thoughts from the trip: Apple almost always announces new products while I'm on vacation. If you ever want to know when Apple is going to announce new products, ask me when I have a vacation planned. It never seems to fail; I've been out of town for a number of important keynotes. Due to the length of the trip, I was unable to order an iPhone 5. If I order one now, it will probably arrive while I'm on a business trip in a couple of weeks. Sigh. Maybe my local Apple Store will have one in stock... iPads everywhere. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, but the number of iPads I saw on this trip was just amazing. It wasn't just people on our ship; I saw iPads being used by locals in just about every port of call, both for work and for pleasure. One odd observation was just how many people were taking photos or video with their iPads. That caused me to shake my head in amazement one day when I saw a fellow passenger aboard the MS Marina holding her iPad over a railing on the ship in high winds, shooting video. I was sure that I was going to see an iPad going for a swim in the Atlantic... iPhones everywhere. Apple's tablet isn't the only device that seems to be gaining universal ubiquity. On previous trips, it seemed like there were a lot more Samsung and Nokia phones being used. This year, iPhone 4 and 4S models were just about everywhere I looked. Sure, I still heard the default Nokia ring tone on occasion, but more often than not I'd hear a familiar iPhone tone and glance over to see someone at a sidewalk café picking up a call on an iPhone 4. Faster and more convenient shipboard internet. OK, this is going to be of interest only to those of you who enjoy cruising, but I found the internet to be much faster than it was on the same cruise ship last September. During our trip, the cruise company -- Oceania -- had contractors busily adding new Cisco wireless access points all over the ship, making some "dead zones" on the ship suddenly perk up with five arcs of Wi-Fi. While that helps out the Wi-Fi connectivity, it has nothing to do with the satellite link that all shipboard devices must communicate through. It appears that the better download speeds were due to the company blocking streaming video. Of course that means that I missed my daily cat videos, but it was worth it to have most of the other sites appearing much more quickly. One other nice touch -- an unlimited internet plan instead of needing to purchase minutes. Better secure Wi-Fi in more places. I've always been somewhat dubious about using Wi-Fi hotspots in cities, although a lot of travelers pride themselves on not purchasing the expensive shipboard internet service and waiting until they get to a port. I noticed that in a number of restaurants/bars that we visited on shore, not only was there free and fast Wi-Fi, but the systems were secured with WPA 2. Customers had to ask for the network name, user ID and password; that's a refreshing change from the disturbing (in my mind) open networks of the past. I'm still waiting for ubiquitous, fast and cheap worldwide internet, but it's awesome to see that solid progress is being made in making it easy to connect quickly even while at sea. The trip also showed me just how much of an impact Apple's devices are having on the people of the good planet Earth.
iMacs Ahoy! Cunard Line opens Apple iStudy on board the MS Queen Victoria
TUAW readers who are setting sail aboard the MS Queen Victoria will enjoy the fact that the cruise ship is now outfitted with the iStudy featuring 18 iMacs running Mac OS X and (cough) Microsoft Windows 7. The iStudy is used for various educational courses on the ship, and also serves as the QV's internet lounge. WIth the addition of the iStudy program to the Queen Victoria, there are now iMacs on all three of the Cunard "Queens", which include the huge Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth. The latter ship also has iRange, which is a seagoing Apple Store for those who want to pick up a Mac, iPad, or iPod while cruising.
Celebrity Eclipse 'iLounge' described as an 'Apple store at sea'
Ah, yes. The open sea, fine dining, relaxation, and an Apple-certified employee available to troubleshoot your iMovie problems. That's the case on the new Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship at least, which is set to make its maiden voyage this April complete with a "Celebrity iLounge" on board. Described as a "hip, modern lounge," the iLounge includes an internet cafe equipped with 26 workstations, a second retail space where guests can try out and buy various Apple products and accessories (yes, Celebrity is now an Authorized Apple Reseller), and a third "enrichment center" that will offer classes on the iLife suite of programs and other general topics. Of course, it's not a real Apple Store at sea. Floating cubes can be a bit tippy.
HD IPTV solution for vessels and cruise ships gets showcased
If there's one glaring negative about hopping on a cruise ship off the coast of Europe and letting go for weeks at the time, it's the gaping hole in your soul created from losing HD programming for that same amount of time. Now, however, RICO is showing off BNS' HD IPTV solution designed specifically for vessels and cruise ships at the Asia Pacific Maritime trade show. Purportedly, the solution will support broadcast HD channels, video-on-demand services, personal messaging and interactive services, and while no cruise lines were specifically mentioned, the firm is unquestionably aiming to "deploy BNS' MDU IPTV solution to the hospitality market in the maritime segment." Pssh, who needs ocean views when you've got this?
