Back In The Game!

Howdy blog watchers!

Firstly apologies for my absence.  Unfortunately I have been a guest of the NHS for the past few weeks, recovering from a minor op, and look whats happened in my absence!!

Royal Caribbean have gone ‘All Inclusive’ for the first time ever! Offering:-

• Free Drinks Packages for both adults and children – A particular favourite of mine and a few thousand other cruise passengers!
• Free Gratuities – Fantastic! About time!   Although I still don’t hold with applying a gratuities amount for children.  A big ‘no no’ in my book.
• Up to $200 free spending money on board!

Then there’s the Quantum Class ‘Smart’ Ships? This one threw me, until I did a little more research, and personally speaking, the jury’s out on this one.

From what I have read we can now download an app on our smartphones which will enable us to check in from shore-side to ship in 10 minutes or less. No paperwork, standing in queues, just log in to generate your boarding documents online, upload your  ID photo, and receive a digital boarding confirmation. As well as tracking our luggage in real time, and monitor its progress en route to our cabins.

Really? I’m not bothered about tracking it, as long as its in my cabin before we sail!

Hmmm.. a grand statement, but lets see what the reality of this will be.  Would it not depend on the strength of the signal you receive?  Oh and the price you’ll be paying your service provider for all this ‘convenience’?  Would hate to see the size of my phone bill after I’ve taken advantage of Royal Caribbeans’ boatload of bandwidth’.

Then there’s the RFID WOWbands.  Wristbands which can be used as cabin keys, make on board purchases and to find your way around the ship. Just a quick tap is all it takes!   A bit dangerous if you ask me.  I’d be tap tap tapping away in the shopping mall – filling my virtual basket with glee! – Until it came to paying the ‘real time’ bill!

You’ve got the RoyalIQ app available to download where you can plan down to the minute and view a calendar of events of all your activities.

Nice for some I suppose who plan their holiday like a military operation.  I on the other hand like to be a little bit more spontaneous and flexible when I cruise.

Of course some things need to be planned in advance but that’s what the Cruise Personaliser is for, but as for that all important question, ‘what shall we do today’.

I’d rather see how I felt on the day rather than tapping into my  ‘Itinerary of Events’.

And the strangest of all – Robotic Waiters???   In the new Bionic Bar.  You place your order on a Tablet (more technology….) and then watch the Robots mix your drinks for you.

(I don’t think this is such a modern innovation – I’m sure like me you’ve come across a few ‘robot’ waiters/bar staff/shop assistants on your travels??)

All sounds a bit too futuristic for me. And at what cost?  Someone’s got to pay for all these new innovative gadgets and novelties, and guess who that might be?  Thee & Me I suspect!  And what happened to good old face to face chatting and socialising?  Can’t imagine having a conversation with a Robot about the goings on in Eastenders while its mixing my Mojito…..

On a different subject, I see there’s new controversy relating to big ships sailing down the Guidecca Canal in Venice! It seems that a decision has finally been made and will be implemented from 2015, affecting ships of 96000 tonnes and over. Alternative routes are being considered.  Watch this space…..

Talking of banning ships, what about the recent experience of some passengers on the Silver Discoverer being denied entry into (an albeit) small port in Russia?  Relations between Russia and the West over the current conflict in the Ukraine and the bringing down of the Malaysian passenger jet remain as frosty as ever, and we could see an escalation of this kind of unco-operative behaviour from Russia.  Another space to watch.

So you see, a lot has been happening in my absence.  All exciting stuff, and I’m looking forward to the coming months to see just what else the cruise industry has up its sleeves to impress us.