RCI’s virtual balconies to roll out on Navigator of the Seas first

Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean International announced plans for “virtual balconies” onboard new ship Quantum of the Seas.

However, last week, Royal Caribbean announced that Quantum of the Seas won’t be the first ship in the fleet to get the exciting new virtual balconies. Rather, the new technology will be installed on Navigator of the Seas during its revitalisation later this year.

We don’t know the specifics for Navigator of the Seas, but on Quantum of the Seas, the new virtual balconies will be installed in all inside rooms; the accommodation is set to get 80-inch LED screens that will project views of the seas and destinations. This will not be stock images rotating round on a loop, but rather, the new virtual balconies will retrieve their pictures from a live outside camera feed.

Adam Goldstein, the CEO of Royal Caribbean thinks the virtual balcony concept will give a “completely different feeling” to the fleet’s inside accommodation.

Royal Caribbean aren’t the first to install this kind of technology onto their cruise ships – Disney Cruises introduced something similar back in 2011. Disney Dream’s inside rooms were installed with “Magical Portholes”, which also show a real-time view of outside.  However, the Magical Portholes had a dash of Disney magic sprinkled on top.  In contrast to the portholes, Royal Caribbean’s Virtual Balconies are significantly larger, filling an entire wall.  (See illustration above, © Royal Caribbean International.)

About Navigator of the Seas & the Royal Advantage programme:

Navigator is a Voyager Class ship with a capacity to hold 3,100-passengers.  She entered service in 2002, and just 12 years later she will undergo a revamp as part of the company’s Royal Advantage programme.

The Royal Advantage programme is a multimillion pound investment that sees most of Royal Caribbean’s fleet undergo changes to bring the ships in line with the popular Oasis Class vessels.

A number of ships have already undertaken their Royal Advantage makeovers. Features added include: a digital way-finding system, ship-wide WiFi, flat screen TVs, cupcake shop, new bars, new family rooms, revitalised staterooms, new children’s nurseries and much, much more.

Fellow Voyager Class ships: Voyager of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas are also due for refurbishment in 2014, although the company has not officially stated if these ships will also be given Virtual Balconies during their transformations.

Navigator of the Seas is due into dry dock in February 2014.

About Royal Caribbean Cruise Line:

Royal Caribbean is based in Miami, Florida. The company has 21 ships currently in service, with more being built for the line’s new Quantum Class section of their fleet. Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas are both due for delivery in late 2014 and early 2015 respectively.