Royal Caribbean extends Microsoft partnership for 'world’s first smart ship'

Posted By Barb Edson
General Manager, Marketing, Cloud and Enterprise

Royal Caribbean announced this week that when its newest mega-luxury liner, Quantum of the Seas, launches this winter, it will have some cool new Internet of Things (IoT) technologies on board. Royal Caribbean has created what it’s calling the “world’s first smart ship.” From RFID luggage tags and wristbands for unlocking doors, to Xbox consoles and POS systems powered by Windows tablets, Royal Caribbean is raising the bar yet again on the guest experience. And the employee experience, too: Quantum crew members — and eventually all Royal Caribbean shipboard employees — will each receive a Windows tablet, for a total of 40,000 of them, to better stay in touch with family and friends on shore.

It’s great to see Royal Caribbean build on the IoT innovation put to work on its lavish Oasis class ships, something I had the opportunity to experience firsthand. On these ships, Royal Caribbean is leveraging Windows across more than 650 devices in its restaurants and gift shops, transforming employee efficiency while drastically cutting the time guests spend waiting in line through the power of data. It’s long been one of my favorite examples of the true importance of IoT technologies: making our work easier, our lives more interesting and our vacations more fun! Read more about Royal Caribbean’s newest technologies here and watch a video here.