Q. You’re hailing Quantum of the Seas as the most ‘tech- smart’ ship at sea. Why have you invested so heavily? A. We’ve added some real ‘wows’ with this ship, but we also wanted to take the best advances in technology and use them to take the frustration out of a vacation. It’s not so much about what we’ve added, such as the robots or the RoboScreens, but what we’ve taken out – like the zero lines [queues], the zero worry about luggage, the zero waste to local landfill, the zero hassle. What we’ve eliminated with this ship is as important as what we’ve added.
Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Quantum of the Seas sets new standards and will soon be followed by sister ship Anthem of the Seas, the latter to be based out of Southampton. Royal Caribbean chairman and chief executive Richard Fain spoke to LUCY HUXLEY
12 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 28 August 2014
Q. Have you made these tech advances because you’ve exhausted other innovations? A. No way. The one thing you can never begin to think with Royal Caribbean is that we’ve exhausted innovations. We’re never satisfied and always coming up with more ideas. Even with none of the technological innovation, Quantum would still be extraordinary, due to its design. We’ve always been good at using ‘dead space’ – the Promenade on Freedom-class ships, Central Park on Oasis class, and on Quantum we’ve designed the air con differently, allowing us to have more balcony cabins and fewer inside. Even inside cabins have virtual balconies – an HDTV behind a false wall with patio doors looking ‘out to sea’. They are remarkably realistic and selling really well.
Q. Will the technical advances help attract new-to-cruise customers? A. We believe the technical advances on Quantum will attract the millennial generation [those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s] and the extra tech will boggle their minds. There will be more bandwidth on this ship than on every other
EXCLUSIVE
Richard Fain BIG INTERVIEW
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