The eternal question all travelers have is, "Where's my luggage" and that's true on cruise ships as much as airports.

While I've always had good luck with my luggage being delivered to my stateroom in a timely manner, you can never be too careful when it comes to ensuring your luggage doesn't get lost.

When you go on a cruise ship, Royal Caribbean will deliver your luggage to your cabin.  Guests drop off their luggage with porters outside of the cruise terminal, and then that luggage gets taken onboard the ship and eventually makes it to in front of your door.

In my experience, the issue of when will my luggage get delivered rather than it getting lost is a game of cat and mouse we play trying to see if it's arrived yet.

Recently, a number of RoyalCaribbeanBlog readers have started using AirTags to track their bags and I thought I would give it a try to see how well it works.

As an iPhone user, I wanted to know if AirTags would be a simple and effective way to monitor my luggage location during the embarkation process.

What are AirTags?

AirTags are the name of an Apple product that you can attach to almost any item so that you can track it using Bluetooth technology.

The AirTag is a small, button-shaped tracking device with a glossy white front and measures in at 1.26 inches in diameter, and it has a height of 0.31 inches, or 8mm. It weighs 0.39 ounces (11 grams).

Once activated, AirTags can be tracked using Bluetooth right alongside Apple devices in the Find My app.

A single AirTag will cost $29 and a 4-pack costs $99. [Note, these links contain an affiliate link. I earn from qualifying purchases that costs you nothing extra]

If you have an Android phone, you can't set up AirTags, but you can use the Tracker Detect app to track an AirTag with Android. 

There are alternative products for Android devices that work very similarly, such as Tile Pro. A 4-pack costs $92.99.

How do AirTags work?

A major misconception about AirTags are they are not GPS trackers.

AirTags have no means to communicate directly to the internet because they don't have GPS chips in them.  They rely on an iPhone being a host to communicate their position.  

An iPhone near an AirTag will detect the AirTag and report it's discovery to iCloud if that iPhone passing by has an internet connection. 

This is done without consent or awareness of the passing iPhone - it's baked into the iPhone OS.  iCloud uses the position or GPS fix of the iPhone that detected the AirTag to record the location of the AirTag. 

If the iPhone has a poor GPS fix iCloud doesn't note that, it assumes the iPhone GPS fix is right.

Trying out AirTags in my cruise luggage

On my Mariner of the Seas cruise, I placed a single AirTag in my one piece of luggage I checked with the porters.

Prior to the cruise, I connected my AirTag to my phone. You'll need to do this to pair the devices together prior to using the accessory.

The great thing about air tags is how easy it is to use them. Once they're paired, there's nothing else to do other than put the AirTags in the the place you want it and then track it via the app.

The Apple AirTag battery lasts about a year and when you remove them from their plastic wrapper, they become instantly active.  Then when you place it near your phone, it pops up on your screen to pair and connect.

Since it's dependent on anyone's iPhone being nearby, sometimes the location is hit or miss as to how accurate it would be. Occasionally my luggage appeared to be in the ocean or close-by.

Later, I checked the app again and the AirTag was reported once again to be "with me". I went out of my cabin and looked down the hallway and there was my luggage.

Thoughts on AirTags

While not the exact tracking option some may think it is, AirTags worked just fine for what I needed.

Given that the luggage never goes that far away from you while onboard, it's good peace of mind to have them just in case they were to be misplaced.

Unlike air travel, where you may end up taking off and across the country while your bags are somewhere else, it's far less likely your luggage stays behind.  But there's been enough times where one bag doesn't get delivered that it would save some sanity.

The key is to understand that it's not like having a tracker that is akin to a movie where you have a red dot you can see in real-time.

As I mentioned earlier in the article, if you don't have an Apple device, then Tile Pro could be a suitable alternative but you'll be out of luck with AirTags.

When you think of working remotely, a cruise ship may not be the first setting that pops into your head. However, with the latest technology updates on certain ships, maybe it should be.

The FCC recently approved the use of Space X’s Starlink service on cruise ships. A few weeks ago, we cruised on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to put Starlink to the test.

In our review, we noticed that the Wi-Fi speeds were better than any other at-sea internet we’ve used before, making it the best option we’ve used to stay connected while cruising.

It's not clear if Royal Caribbean will continue to offer Starlink, or if/when it will be added to other ships. For as long as they do offer it however, it opens the door for remote workers to efficiently work from a cruise ship.

Freedom of the Seas offers 3 and 4 night cruises to the Bahamas, leaving from Miami, and offers plenty of space for those needing to get some work done. These shorter weekend cruises are the perfect way to try out a cruise for the first time, or a new ship. It also provides a great opportunity to try working remotely from a new location.

For our sailing, our option to purchase internet was the same as the Voom packages, offering Surf & Stream, and Surf packages.

We recommend purchasing the Surf & Stream internet package if you’ll be using any video conferencing while working. If you only need to check your email or use a chat system, like Slack or Google Chat, the Surf option should work well. 

When looking for somewhere quiet to take meetings or focus, the best place we found to work was the Library / Card Room. This smaller room often goes unnoticed by other cruisers, meaning you’ll often find yourself a quiet room with few other people.

Some of our other favorite spots to work from were the Star Lounge, Viking Crown Lounge, and the outside seating areas on Decks 4 & 12. While most of these spaces don’t have activities during the day, we recommend checking the cruise planner prior to settling in to be sure you won’t have any surprise disruptions while you work. 

With the addition of Starlink, most of the ship had strong connectivity, and was much more reliable than we had ever experienced before.

Our interior stateroom did have some buffering when logging onto a video call (primarily due to our cabin being further from a wifi hub), but we were able to load, stream and surf without issue. 

One of the biggest frustrations on other ships we've experiences is trying to use the internet while sailing between ports of call. With the other at-sea internet offerings, it would take minutes for a single web page to load, and we didn't even consider trying to stream any videos.

Starlink gave us the ability to bypass these struggles, and ensure that we were connected regardless of where the ship was located.

With the ability of being able to work and connect seamlessly during the day, enjoy all of the activities in the evening, and wake up somewhere new every morning, Freedom of the Seas may just be the best place to work remotely now. 

I went on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas to put the SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet to the test. 

Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi speeds have been hit or miss, depending on the ship. Even ships with the higher speeds (typically new ships), it was still slower than our internet at home.

For those of us that don't completely disconnect on cruises, it is often frustrating to get websites and videos to load, and even connect with friends and family at home. I considered it a cost of cruising, as being on a ship in the middle of the sea doesn't give you many options.

That is, until now.  

Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean Group filed with the Federal Communications Commission, disclosing a partnership with SpaceX Services, Inc. While certain airline carriers, including Hawaiian Airlines, have worked out deals to offer Starlink to their passengers, Royal Caribbean is the first cruise liner to file the request. At the time of filing, Starlink was not approved for use on moving vehicles, and the filing called on the FCC to speed up the process.

Around the same time of the filing, passengers started noticing that the Freedom of the Seas was outfitted with Starlink satellite dishes, and quietly testing the service for those onboard.

Hoping that Starlink would still be actively testing, I booked a weekend cruise on Freedom to try it for myself. 

My goal was to test the Wi-Fi speeds on board, while sailing and at Perfect Day at CocoCay. There was no indication that Starlink would still be offered by the time I got onboard, as it can be pulled down at any time during its testing. It also isn't clear if or when other ships will get this service. 

For this sailing, we purchased both the Voom Surf and Voom Surf & Stream internet packages to test. Royal Caribbean’s Voom service is boasted as the fastest internet at sea, being 6x faster than other internet at sea.

On embarkation day, we headed to the Royal Promenade on deck 5 to start the testing process. Using two laptops, my husband John tested the Surf & Stream while I tested the Surf speed.

Once we started the speed test, it showed that we were connected to SpaceX Starlink, meaning that the Starlink trial onboard Freedom was still active.

It was instantly clear that this internet service was above and beyond what Voom typically offered.

The Surf package showed a download speed of 9.01 Mbps and upload speed of 20.34 Mbps. The Surf & Stream gave a download speed of 77.03 Mbps and upload speed of 15.72 Mbps.

On both devices, we tried watching YouTube videos and Netflix shows to see how they would work. Both packages allowed us to instantly start watching the videos, with no lag or buffering time. 

Shortly after these tests, John moved to the Star Lounge to take a Zoom call using the Surf & Stream service. The zoom call connected easily, and there was no buffering or freezing for his video and audio.

Later that afternoon, he moved to our stateroom to take another Zoom call, but realized that the service in our interior stateroom (7121) was taking longer to connect, and buffering his video. He ended up moving back down to deck 5 to finish the call.

Being in an interior stateroom, between plenty of metal walls, we weren’t surprised that the quality wasn’t as clear as it is in the open areas that have minimal Wi-Fi signal interference.

After he wrapped up his calls, the ship began to sail away, while we waited to see how the service held up once we were farther from port.

That evening, about 3 hours after we set sail, we tried the tests again, from inside our stateroom. This time Surf gave us a download speed of 2.85 Mbps and upload speeds of 3.74 and Surf & Stream gave us a download speed of 19.9 Mbps and upload speed of 5.42 Mbps.

While the Surf & Stream speeds were higher, we found that we were both able to stream shows on either package, with just a slight loading time for the Surf package.

The next morning we docked in Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal’s private island in the Bahamas. We were excited to test the speeds while on the island, which includes wifi access if you purchased a package on the ship.

To our surprise, the service remained strong even on the south side of the island, with Surf showing download speeds of 19.93 Mbps and upload speeds of 8.19 Mbps, while Surf & Stream showed download speeds of 52.50 Mbps and upload speeds of 10.10 Mbps.

Later that day while sailing between CocoCay and Nassau, we tried using Facetime on each package to see how the video and audio quality would be. We were happy to see that both were crystal clear on each end.

On other cruises while using Royal’s Voom service, the video would cut in and out, become blurry, and the audio would lag, making it a frustrating experience for everyone involved.

On the last day of our cruise, we decided to take our test up a notch and live stream on the Royal Caribbean Blog TikTok account for both the International Belly Flop competition and the Battle of the Sexes game show. Both events were able to stream without interruptions or buffering. 

Overall, Starlink has blown my cruising Wi-Fi expectations out of the water.

While we did notice that the service slowed in our interior room, we were still able to stream shows and use the internet much faster than the typical Voom packages we’ve experienced in the past.

We were particularly impressed with the Surf package, which to our surprise allowed us to stream almost as well as the Surf & Stream package. That may or may not remain a feature if Starlink gets approved for general use on cruise ships.

While many people continue to work remotely, if adopted permanently Starlink will be a great solution for working from a cruise, or just stay connected while out at sea. 

The only downside to the Starlink service on Royal Caribbean that we found will be having to adjust our Wi-Fi expectations when sailing on other ships without Starlink.

Each week we get another batch of cruise news to share covering what's happening in the world of Royal Caribbean cruises.

In an effort to cover it all for you, this week's update is a look around a few tidbits and updates you should know about.

Starlink installed on Freedom of the Seas?

Last week, Royal Caribbean sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking for permission to use Elon Musk's Starlink internet service on their cruise ships.

It appears one cruise ship may have Starlink installed as a test.

Brandon from The Weekend Cruiser shared an update from onboard the ship with a look at an array of satellite receivers installed onboard Freedom of the Seas.

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The antennas are installed at the front of the ship by the mini-golf course, with six on each side of the ship for a total of 12 receivers.

Before you can expect to get super-fast wifi on a Royal Caribbean ship, the FCC needs to approve the technology because right now Starlink isn't allowed on moving vehicles.

Royal Caribbean finds company to provide LNG for Icon of the Seas

For those of you keeping score at home, Royal Caribbean has signed a deal with Eagle LNG Partners LLC to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering for Icon of the Seas.

Icon of the Seas will be the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to run on LNG.

The LNG supply will be sourced from Eagle LNG’s liquefaction facilities in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Eagle LNG’s facilities are designed for loading bunker vessels and LNG carriers for the Caribbean while maintaining economies of scale using modular liquefaction technology. The facilities will be capable of blending in renewable feedstocks to help customers achieve their carbon reduction goals.

Celebrity raises minimum age for unvaccinated guests

Something to keep an eye on is a change for sister-company Celebrity Cruises and their vaccination policy.

For all Celebrity Cruises Europe sailings, guests 17 years of age and younger will no longer be required to be vaccinated in order to sail.

Also, unvaccinated guests sailing in Europe now have the option to either bring a negative pre-arrival test taken within 1 day of sailing or get tested at the terminal.

Royal Caribbean has not made any similar change to their European cruise protocols.

There could be a new generation of high-speed internet coming to Royal Caribbean's cruise ships.

Based on regulatory filings, it appears Royal Caribbean is engaged with SpaceX’s satellite internet system Starlink to provide internet service for its ships.

A new filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday details a plan to bring the new type of internet to cruise ships.

The letter was sent to the FCC by Royal Caribbean Group Vice President of Operational Excellence, John Maya, to ask the agency to "expeditiously" approve a new plan to use Starlink on Royal Caribbean ships.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage.

"We write today to respectfully request that you act expeditiously and look favorably upon the pending application filed by SpaceX Services, Inc. and referenced above."

Mr. Maya points to increased cloud-based services drawing a need for even faster internet accessibility onboard. He points to attrition, bankruptcies, and consolidation in the satellite internet business as not keeping up with demand.

"Working with SpaceX Services, Inc., we believe we have identified a true next generation solution for our vessels that meets the rigorous technical and operational requirements commensurate with our growth plans.

"We believe our work with SpaceX, the first of its kind in the cruise industry will set the standard for other cruise operators and will mean a leap in terms of guest experience and business operations while at sea."

If you are ready for Starlink to be added to a cruise ship soon, there's a legal issue that is preventing it, which is why Royal Caribbean is appealing to the FCC.

SpaceX has yet to receive approval to operate its Starlink service on moving vehicles, including planes and naval ships.

Up until now, Royal Caribbean's Voom internet service has relied on internet from other providers, including O3b MEO. The O3b internet had made it on Royal Caribbean's newer ships, but did not get added to older ships in the fleet. Moreover, it has anecdotally not performed nearly as well more recently, especially when compared to other cruise lines, such as Princess Cruises.

As an example, this article was written onboard Serenade of the Seas, which clocked a download speed of 590Kbps and an upload speed of 360Kbps, with latency of 832ms.

Starlink is capable of download speeds of 50-250Mbps for residential consumers.

The cruise industry is always innovating its ships to make cruising not only more fun and exciting, but safer for guests and better for the environment.

Back in 2016, Royal Caribbean announced it would be building a new class of ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). This class of ships is the Icon Class, which will debut next year with the first ship in the class, Icon of the Seas.

As environmental impact is one of the biggest complaints given to the cruise industry, the transition from diesel fuel to liquefied natural gas will be a great step toward a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable future for Royal Caribbean.

What is liquefied natural gas (LNG)?

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is the cleanest fossil fuel that can be used by cruise ships today. LNG is a natural gas that has been liquefied at around -260 ° fahrenheit, producing a volume of around 600 times smaller than in a gaseous state, which makes the gas much easier to store and transport.

When ships are powered by LNG fuel, a ship’s carbon emissions can be reduced by around 30%. Additionally, sulfur emissions will be reduced by nearly 100% and nitrogen oxide emissions by around 85%.

Outside of producing fewer emissions, ships powered by LNG will have less wear and tear on the engine, resulting in fewer repairs and lower maintenance costs. LNG fuel is also cheaper than low-sulfur fuel, allowing Royal Caribbean to decrease fuel costs with LNG-powered cruise ships.

LNG will be utilized in conjunction with many of Royal Caribbean’s other energy-reducing technologies, such as air lubrication, which sends microscopic bubbles along the ship’s hull to reduce friction as it moves through the ocean, and advantaged waste heat recovery systems which turn waste heat into extra energy.

Royal Caribbean has stated that the “use of such technologies, including LNG, will result in further reduced emissions overall, virtually zero sulfur dioxides and particulates, and a significant reduction in the production of nitrogen oxides.”

Which Royal Caribbean cruise ships are powered by LNG?

While there are no Royal Caribbean cruise ships sailing today that are powered by LNG, four ships are in construction or on order that will have LNG power.

The first ship to be powered by LNG is Icon of the Seas, the first ship in Royal Caribbean’s new Icon Class. While not many details are known about the layout, amenities, itineraries, and activities that will be found on Icon of the Seas, what we do know is that the ship will be the first Royal Caribbean ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas.

One of the first additions to the construction of Icon of the Seas was the ship’s LNG fuel tank, measuring 307 tons and 90 feet long, which Royal Caribbean has stated is the largest in the cruise industry.

Icon of the Seas will be launched in Fall 2023, when she will sail from England prior to being homeported in Miami, Florida. It was recently announced that Icon of the Seas will be the largest ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet.

The next Royal Caribbean ship to be powered by LNG will be Utopia of the Seas, the sixth ship in Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class. She will be the first of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class cruise ships to be powered by liquefied natural gas, and will debut in Spring 2024.

In addition to Icon of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas are plans for two other ships powered by LNG, which will be the second and third ships in the Icon Class. These two ships are estimated for completion in the second quarter of 2025 and the second quarter 2026, but are not yet named.

Outside of Royal Caribbean, LNG is a common trend in the construction of new cruise ships throughout the industry, with new cruise ships such as the Disney Wish, Carnival Mardi Gras, Norwegian Prima, and MSC World Europa all powered by LNG.

The arrival of Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas heralds a point in time where the cruise industry is ready to move past the comeback phase.

"The Royal comeback is behind us. We are back. The world’s greatest vacation is back," is what Royal Caribbean International Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, Mark Tamis, told members of the media while onboard Wonder of the Seas this week.

Since June 2021, Royal Caribbean has been focused on getting its ships back up and running.  But with two new cruise ships launched in less than 6 months, the cruise line is ready to look forward to getting back to the sort of plans it had before the pandemic.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider oversees quite a few of these plans, including the line's private destinations, ship upgrades, and new builds.

With Wonder of the Seas in operation, Royal Caribbean has big plans for the next few years across the world.

While Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship is Icon of the Seas, there are plenty of other things coming down the pike, "We're working on Oasis six. We're working on the expansion of CocoCay with Hideaway Beach. We're working on our new Beach Club in Paradise Island and Nassau."

Those plans are projects the company has publicly commented on, but there's more on the horizon, "We're also imagining the far flung future as well, because as a brand, we're never going to stop innovating."

Icon of the Seas

Ever since Royal Caribbean announced it had plans to build a new class of cruise ship with the Icon Class, there has been very few details, but that may soon change.

Mr. Schneider indicated that the public will finally hear more about Icon of the Seas in the April or May timeframe, "We go to market on Icon in the next two months."

"Over the next two months, you'll hear us talk publicly about the size of the ship, the number of passengers, the neighborhoods."

That's right, Icon of the Seas will retain the neighborhood concept from the Oasis Class ships, but Mr. Schneider hinted that may be the only traditional aspect of the ship, as they intend to innovate beyond what the Oasis Class offered.

"Everything you'll see on icon will will be an evolution or revolution. And and we'll push forward again us being the at the top of the mantle on the ultimate family vacation."

Port projects

Besides new ships, Royal Caribbean is hard at work on a number of land-based initiatives. Here's what Mr. Schneider had to share for updates on each of these previously announced expansions.

Royal Beach Club in Nassau

"Moving forward, we are still in negotiation with the government on the full proposal.

"We've been going through our environmental impact assessment. We've posted as a result of that on our website, our various plans."

Freeport

"We continue to move forward with our port development in Freeport."

Royal Beach Club in Antigua

"We still have an ambition for a Royal Beach Club in Antigua."

"Right now, our priority is the Royal Beach Club and Paradise. First, we want to really get one live, understand it before we commit to the next Royal Beach Club."

Perfect Day at Lelepa

"It's still in our planning cycle. We are really waiting for the Pacific to reopen in a massive way."

"We, as an industry, are a challenged right now, with China closed and with a slow opening of Australia."

Hideaway Beach

"Hideaway Beach is under construction right now."

"There were a handful of decisions that we made during the pandemic to be smarter about that construction, specifically just the movement of some of the back of house functions."

"It's going to be an amazing adult space for about 2,000 guests opening, opening in... mid to late 2023."

Royal Amplifications

The pandemic caused a few Royal Caribbean cruise ships to miss their planned amplifications, but those plans are not totally gone.

What is the best way to stay connected with family and friends while onboard a cruise ship?

A lot of people that are about to go on a cruise want to know the best way to stay in touch with those on the same ship as them.  

Often, the question goes something like this, "I am cruising with several groups of people. How do you recommend we stay connected on the ship?"

Royal Caribbean cruise ships range in a guest capacity of about 2,000 to 6,500, so finding one person onboard is not always a simple task.  

Here are some common and useful ways of doing being able to easy contact someone, with each method coming with pros and cons. 

Royal Caribbean's phones

Utilizing Royal Caribbean's in-room phones and phones in common areas is a simple way to communicate with guests onboard your ship and onshore.

If you are trying to reach a guest onboard the ship, you can make a call to their stateroom and optionally leave a message.  Use of the phones for calls to a guest's stateroom is complimentary.  Of course, it requires the guest to be in the room to answer the call and/or check the voicemail.  This can result in "phone tag," where it seems like you are always missing each other.

The best part of relying on the cruise ship phones to reach someone else onboard is it's totally free.

If you want to get in contact with someone on land, there are two options.

Calls made from land to your Royal Caribbean cruise (shore to ship) can be achieved by calling (888) 724-7447/(321) 953-9003 to reach passengers.  The cost of this service is $7.95 per minute, and is chargeable to a Visa or MasterCard credit card.

Calls made from your Royal Caribbean ship to somewhere on land (ship to shore) can be made from your stateroom phone and also costs $7.95 per minute, billed to your SeaPass account.

Using your cell phone

Almost everyone has a cell phone with them and your cell phone will function while on a cruise, although the cost of doing so will vary greatly.

You could use your phone like normal and place calls and text messages by connecting to the cell provider on the Royal Caribbean ship, but this comes with a heft roaming cost. Usually, calls cost $6-8 per minute depending on your carrier.

Using your cell phone's data plan can be prohibitively expensive, with costs of $1 per MB or more.  You are better off skipping this option and looking at Voom options (scroll down to see more about this).

I don't recommend this option at all because of the crazy high prices carriers charge for roaming. I mention it purely because it exists, and some people have work phones that don't care about running up a bill.

Ship internet

The best option for most people is to purchase a Royal Caribbean Voom internet package.

There are two Voom plans offered: Voom Surf or Voom Surf + Stream

• Voom Surf
  • This offers basic web browsing, with no streaming services allowed
  • Starts at $17.99 per day for 1 device
    • The price gets cheaper as more devices are added to the plan
    • Most guests can get a 20% pre-cruise discount via the Cruise Planner site
    • There is also a Crown & Anchor Society discount once onboard
• Voom Surf + Stream
  • Full internet access, including streaming services
  • Starts at $22.99 per day for 1 device
    • The price gets cheaper as more devices are added to the plan
    • Most guests can get a 20% pre-cruise discount via the Cruise Planner site
    • There is also a Crown & Anchor Society discount once onboard
• 24 hour single day pass: $25.99 for surf or $32.99 for Surf + Stream

Once connected to the ship's internet, you can leverage any number of messaging apps to communicate with someone else onboard, or even at home.

These apps are usually free to use for voice and texting. Popular options include:

• Facebook Messenger
• WhatsApp
• Skype
• GroupMe

Of course, for this option to work, everyone who you need to stay in contact with needs to purchase a Voom package and have their phone or tablet with them.

Buying everyone an internet package is still cheaper than the roaming charges you would incur using your cell carrier, and more than likely there's a common (and free) app you can all agree to use.

WiFi calling

If you get an internet package, another option is WiFi calling through your carrier.

Most major cell phone carriers these days provide a means of making phone calls via an internet connection instead of relying on a cell phone connection. 

WiFi calling has no additional cost and works just like you are at home and supports voice calls, text messaging (SMS and MMS).  It works with most newer devices, including iPhone 5C and later, Android and Blackberry devices.  Check with your carrier for exact devices that are supported.

At last check, these carriers supported WiFi calling

• Verizon
• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• Sprint
• GoogleFi
• Cricket

To make a phone call over WiFi, put your device into airplane mode and connect to Voom via WiFi.  

If set up correctly on your phone, your calls, texts will be routed through Voom.

Royal Caribbean App

Royal Caribbean's app has a text feature that offers one-to-one guest chat, along with group chats.

Once onboard the ship and logged onto Royal Caribbean's Wi-Fi  network (no internet package required to use the app), other guests will show up as offline or online but are only online if they have the app opened and to the “chat” window.

There is no cost to use Royal Caribbean's app (this changed in 2023, as there used to be a charge).

If there's a downfall of the app, it's the lack of notifications. Many cruisers report they do not get notified of a new message unless they open the Royal Caribbean app to check.

Read more: Royal Caribbean's onboard messaging system is now free: Here's how it works

Your Thoughts

Which means of communicating with friends and family on your ship and at sea do you find to be the best option? Did we miss one you know about? Share your comments and suggestions in the comments!

In the future your stateroom door might be opened by your face instead of a card.

Royal Caribbean filed paperwork with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a "multifunction smart door device", that among other things, can be opened via facial recognition.

The new patent is for a device that would be installed within or near stateroom doors of a cruise ship. Each smart door device can control access to a stateroom based on facial recognition or a wireless credential.

This smart device can perform other functions such as controlling stateroom personalization features, providing an electronic peephole function, allowing controlled access for authorized crew members, accommodating remote unlocking, and providing notifications. 

It could also be used by a passenger's mobile device.

Cabin doors on Royal Caribbean ships are all opened by a SeaPass card, which guests are issued at the start of the cruise.  Crew members have master key cards that can open the doors as well.

On some new ships, Royal Caribbean has added the ability for guests to open their cabin doors via the Royal Caribbean app.

Royal Caribbean thinks this device can be utilized for service, safety, or security purposes, such as for anonymized foot traffic analysis, hazard detection, and stateroom access auditing. 

It is a prime example by Royal Caribbean of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that aims to  provide connected services to improve passenger comfort and efficiency.

The patent authors include Joey Hasty, Gregory Morwick, Alastair Partington, Jay Schneider. Mr. Schneider is Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer.

How it works

According to the patent, a wide angle camera would be able to sense a face of a person within its view and then use one or more facial recognition software algorithms to determine if the person is authorized to unlock the door.

The patent also includes the possibility for the facial recognition software to be able to set guest stateroom preferences comprise at least one of a default climate control setting, a default in-room media setting, a default lighting setting, or a default window shade setting.

There is even a provision in the patent for the wide angle camera that serves as the facial recognition sensor, to transmit a live stream to a guest's mobile device, similar to how some smart locks for houses function.

Of course, the door could be opened by crew members. It would be set up to allow one or more crew members to access the stateroom based at least in part on a facial recognition result or a proximity-based credential, and based at least in part on evaluating a business rule stored in the local data store.

These business rules could limit access to certain hours of the day, or determine whether the stateroom is occupied or unoccupied before allowing a crew member to enter.

Facial recognition is the future

One of the patent's authors, Jay Schneider, has spoken publicly about the value facial recognition will have for the cruise industry.

Earlier this year, Mr. Schneider talked about why facial recognition, and not wearables, are the best long-term solution for guests being able to customize their trip.

"There are use cases where a wearable on your arm or a lanyard, et cetera, might be relevant, but your face is a better wearable for you long term than having to distribute something to you."

Royal Caribbean has already implemented facial recognition technology in some of its cruise terminals, where the embarkation and disembarkation process is sped up thanks to facial recognition.

One major shift coming out of the pandemic for Royal Caribbean is the world is going to expect something different.

Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider spoke at Seatrade Cruise Global on Wednesday about his company's efforts, and believes digital is now the expectation, and not just an enhancement.

"I think we're going to come out of this pandemic where digital is now just the norm and most people's expectation shot through the roof," Mr. Schneider stated after answering a question about digital transformation.

"It's going to be the world is going to expect something very different coming out of the pandemic than they did going into it."

According to Schneider, that expectation is already taking place with the cruise line app.

Prior to the pandemic, Royal Caribbean saw about 70% adoption rate of the cruise line app on a ship that had the app available. Since the restart of operations this year, the adoption rate jumped to the mid to upper 90s.

"As we've turned back on ships, our focus hasn't been go to market communication to tell you to use an app. It's been all of the other health and safety information that we have to tell you."

Something else that has shifted a lot has been the desire by guests to complete online check-in.

"Right before the pandemic, we had gotten our check in numbers like 90 percent, and I was really curious what was that last 10 percent."

Mr. Scheider wanted to dig into who that last 10% was that was not doing check-in, and many stereotypically assumed it was the older generation that was hesitant to adopt tech as part of their vacation experience.

His research showed this breakdown of guests who checked in via the Royal Caribbean app before embarkation day in the days before the pandemic:

• People over 65: 99.5%
• Gen X: 98.5%
• Millenials: 82%

"It was millennials that were dragging down our digital engagement."

One change Royal Caribbean made since cruises restarted this year was to allow guests to check-in via the app up to one hour before boarding.

"As we implemented one hour check in, we saw all of our numbers go up. Boomers stayed the same, Gen X went up a little bit, and then millennials are the one that brought the percentage up."

Mr. Schneider believes this data shows that age isn't a factor in preventing technology adoption, but rather, how the technology is implemented to reach all guests' needs.

Disconnect moments

While technology is a fascinating new tool for Royal Caribbean, some passengers want to take a break from it.

Mr. Schneider admitted that there is a percentage of guests who want "disconnect moments" during their vacation, and that means Royal Caribbean must integrate technology into the cruise ship life without making it a full-time experience.

"What you do see and hear from people is people do want to find these disconnect moments. And so our job is to build technology and experiences that allow them to connect or disconnect as much as they want."