Bandwidth — Cruising and Cruises

Oasis of The Seas offers broadband internet speeds

Like Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships, Quantum of the Seas (Quantum Class) ships will be getting super fast broadband, as we detailed here. The Quantum class ships will have speeds that compare to onshore broadband speeds. Royal Caribbean is stepping up the game here, it will be interesting to see how quickly other cruise lines react.

MIAMI, November 10, 2014 – She’s smart, fashionable, tech savvy and incredibly adventurous, and she’s poised to bring the cruise industry into the 21^st century. Royal Caribbean International’s newest cruise ship Quantum of the Seas arrived into her homeport of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, NJ today, bringing with her a wave of unprecedented first-at-sea features and amenities. Superfast wireless connectivity, the world’s first robotic bartenders, a skydiving simulator, bumper cars, futuristic entertainment, and partnerships with celebrated chefs Jamie Oliver, Michael Schwartz and Devin Alexander, are just a small sample of what the modern age of cruising looks like onboard Quantum of the Seas.

“Quantum of the Seas isn’t just changing cruising, it’s changing how today’s traveler vacations,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “It’s not just how you travel, it’s the experience from start to finish. With Quantum we are empowering our guests to customize every aspect of their journey, providing them with an unprecedented level of freedom and flexibility.”

The official naming ceremony for Quantum of the Seas will take place on Friday, Nov. 14 during the pre-inaugural celebration hosted by the ship’s godmother, Kristin Chenoweth. Highlights of Quantum of the Seas include:

The Smartest Ship at Sea

Unprecedented levels of technology amp up the vacation experience onboard Quantum of the Seas which allows for the utmost in simplicity, efficiency and customization. Guests can be online and connected 24/7 should they choose to be, thanks to superfast wireless speeds that match broadband connections onshore, while RFID luggage tags provide the option of tracking luggage in real time through smartphones, and a downloadable app, Royal iQ, empowers guests to manage every detail of their vacation during the cruise. Not to mention robots! Technology also enables a number of surprise-and-delight elements on Quantum of the Seas, including a brand new venue, Bionic Bar powered by Makr Shakr that is set to make waves with robots at center stage.

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1121/the-future-of-cruising-has-arrived-worlds-first-smartship-quantum-of-the-seas-sails-into-new-york-harbor-/

Using O3b‘s network of mid-orbit satellites, Royal Caribbean will be providing broadband-level bandwidth for the Oasis and Allure . Instead of near-dialup speeds, the O3b network will be a game changer for cruise passengers wanting to have broadband, low-latency access to the internet. Oasis and Allure signal the beginning of the race for other cruise lines to upgrade their internet capabilities.

Oasis Of The Seas – lots of bandwidth

In part Royal Caribbean said:

By pairing a new generation of medium-Earth-orbit satellites (originally designed to bring the Internet to emerging markets like sub Saharan Africa) with sophisticated antenna arrays aboard its newest ships, the popular ships are vaulting competitors and delivering guests the kind of technology they expect in a connected world.

“Vacations aren’t just about getting away from it all for modern families anymore,” said Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “A great vacation today also means keeping friends updated over social media, and enjoying downtime with streaming content played on tablets and phones, not just movies on TV in your stateroom.

“But matching or exceeding the best on-land service was a tough challenge when the nearest cell tower or cable hook-up was 1,000 miles away. That meant we needed some real breakthroughs, not just incremental increases,” Goldstein said. “But real breakthroughs are what we do. And once we cracked the download code, we also got to dream up some pretty interesting new uses for all that connectivity. Our ships go to incredible places – and this makes getting there even more incredible.”

A set of new, custom-built antennae were shipped from Israel to Florida last month, and installed on Oasis of the Seas. Testing confirmed the ships’ ability to match the fastest broadband connections on shore. “O3b, our satellite communications partner, calls it ‘fiber speed with satellite reach,’ and this is exactly the result we are seeing in our tests,” said Bill Martin, Chief Information Officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

See http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1085/boatloads-of-bandwidth-a-new-wow-for-oasis-and-allure/

#QuantumOfTheSeas offers #broadband #internet speeds at sea – @RoyalCaribbean

High Net #Bandwidth for Royal Caribbean’s #Oasis and #Allure @RoyalCaribbean