Cruise line Royal Caribbean has built an iPhone app to allow passengers on its flagship Oasis of the Seas vessel to manage their entire trip (and family) from a handset.
The system was developed by technology company and network services provider DeFi and works by tapping into around a 1,000 wireless spots around the ship.
Royal Connect provides a range of passenger services including itinerary planning, cabin and wireless point call-SMS facilities and information about ship events.
A rather unique feature for a travel app is the ability to track members of a family under-12 by way of an electronic wristband device which automatically pinpoints their location anywhere on the ship.
The system also allows users to locate other passengers that have the function switched on.
But the app comes at a price, and with the seemingly unusual idea of not allowing passengers to use their own iPhones to run the service.
The app is installed only on Royal Caribbean-owned devices. These are then rented out to passengers on a first-come-first-served basis for $17.50 per person for the duration of the journey onboard.
In some respects the market could be quite big (and lucrative) as personal smartphone handsets are usually subject to the hefty roaming fees on ships.
Wondering why the application would not be downloaded to passenger iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad devices using the WiFi (802.11 b/g) connection as opposed to the phone (GSM/Cellular) link that would incur roaming charges.
I would assume the platform triangulates the bracelet location based on the 1,000 wireless access points as opposed to providing true satellite based GPS functionality, so there would be little reason that the App on a standard iPhone could not use the same platform. The App would need to put the phone into airplane mode, then re-enable WiFi.)
Actually, it would not even need to be an iPhone App – it could potentially be browser based or ported to support other devices.
This approach would limit the hardware required to be provided by Royal Caribbean, presumably increasing their profit margin. Challenges forecasting demand could have hardware sitting underutilized, or encounter sold-out situations. One would think they could make a substantially smaller number of hardware inclusive units available for those without smartphones.
It would be interesting to understand if there were other issues that caused Royal Caribbean to take this approach.
@robert – we asked that exact question re why this approach. awaiting response…
I agree with most of the points raised by RKC. This functionality is a great idea that seems, at first glance, to be poorly executed. Perhaps this is a planned baby step for RC? But, in the current iteration, it’s certainly missing out on most of the upside that resort-specific apps (or cruise-specific apps, if you will) have to offer.
I explored the full potential of resort-specific apps a short while back. Have a look. Let me know what you think. Interested in evolving this concept…
http://ow.ly/1vBxp
http://ow.ly/1vByd
Cheers,
-az
I found your site via google thanks for the post. I will save it for future reference. Thanks Cruise
We have developed a free app for Royal Caribbean which has deck plans, cruise itineraries and other things (but no tracking). Still, its handy to use on board no internet connection required.
Search for “Royal Caribbean” on the app store. Hope that helps.