Royal Caribbean has rolled out Coca-Cola's Freestyle machines to some of its cruise ships and already its passengers are loving it.
Royal Caribbean directory of fleet beverage operations, Bob Midytette, says the new soda machines are more popular than they envisioned, "We ran out of product on the first voyage. It was more popular than even what we thought it would be."
The Freestyle Machines offer passengers 125 flavors of Coke using medical micro-dosing technology and flavor cartridges. The machines are currently available on Majesty of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas and will continue to roll out to more ships at the rate of about one or two a month.
"It is in my mind the next evolution of non-alcoholic beverage service, a leap forward to what you could offer through the traditional system," Midyette says.
Currently the machines cost $6.50 per day for adults and $4.50 for kids for the soda package that includes access to the Freestyle machines. Passengers receive a special cup with a RFID chip that gives access to the machine.
