Royal Caribbean Implements Tablets & Cloud Aboard Cruise Ships
Royal Caribbean has signed a deal with Microsoft that allows the luxury cruise liner to use 40,000 Microsoft Windows 8.1 based tablets in order to connect to cloud services that will enhance the experience of the passengers aboard. The Royal Caribbean crew will all have their own Office 365 setups including access to OneDrive, Microsoft’s popular cloud file sharing suite.
Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean, mentions that the tablets serve a dual purpose. The cloud connected tablets allow crew members to stay in contact with loved ones who are on shore. The Microsoft branded tablets are manufactured by HEXA and these tablets will have all of the tools built in to allow crew members to interact with family members and loved ones such as Skype. Fain goes on to mention that he thinks that equipping his employees with tablets will help tech savvy travelers connect with the luxury cruise line service.
In a press release, Fain says, “The Royal Caribbean men and women who provide such great vacations are the real heroes of our fleet, and these gifts demonstrate our appreciation in a tangible way.” Fain went on to talk about the benefits of deal. Fain says, “This technology isn’t only about giving our guests a better vacation — it’s about giving our crew and their families a closer connection than we’ve ever been able to.”
Reports say that Royal Caribbean has been revamping their internal IT systems. Point of Sale systems have also been migrated to the cloud. In fact, the new POS’s found on Royal Caribbean utilize the Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablets as their touch-screen infrastructure. These tablets have VeriFone payment sleeves that allow customers to purchase items from attendants holding the tablets using their credit cards. The hardware also contains a bar code reader to help speed up the transaction process. This IT overhaul is expected to streamline the service for passengers aboard Royal Caribbean while giving the employees a simple and effective platform in which to communicate with one another and their family and friends.
