High-Tech on Carnival Cruises
June 14, 2005
Vacations aren't what they used to be, mostly because of the fact that neither is working. The need for direct contact with clients and fellow employees has been replaced by the expediency of the internet and emails; the forty-hour work week is becoming a dinosaur with the advent of a global market place that never sleeps; people want to be free to stay "connected" no matter where they are, be it Times Square or the Bermuda Triangle.
So it comes as no surprise that even people who are on cruise vacations still want to log some hours behind the keyboard. Carnival Cruise Line recognizes that, proving once again why its Carnival cruises lead the industry in numbers of passengers. And on December 15 2004, hundreds of guests onboard Carnival Valor's inaugural sailing had packed their own personal laptops along side their swimming trunks.
In the past, guests on Carnival cruises who wanted to get online were forced to use only certain cabins and limit themselves to a finite number of ship computers. Now, those who take one of the Carnival cruises on the 110,000-ton, 2,974-passenger cruise ship will be free to access the internet from any cabin and any public space on the ship with their wireless laptop. Perhaps so they can watch the sun set and their stocks rise—multitasking at its best.
More than 200 antennas had to be installed in and around the ship's seventeen decks, and lots of preparation and calculations had to be done to before a screwdriver was ever picked up or wire ever connected. But don't worry—you won't find a jumble of wires or computer gizmos distracting on any of Valor's Eastern or Western Carnival cruises; great care was taken to make sure that the system onboard is as aesthetically pleasing as it is fully-functional.
Carnival also recently fitted Valor and two other ships in Carnival's fleet, Miracle and Liberty, with some other capabilities, as well. The three ships will be offering technologically advanced Carnival cruises (although only Valor has total internet capabilities) that allow guests to find information onboard more easy than ever before. The ships have been fitted with several 42-inch plasma displays that allow the guests to access information about deck plans, onboard events, meal times, shipboard staff, shore excursions, ports of call simply by touching different fields on the displays' screens.
"[Carnival] received a very positive response from guests who appreciate the value-added service that the interactive information kiosks provide." said Tony Manthe, video services project manager for Carnival Cruise Lines. It seems the computer system on Carnival cruises are appreciated almost as much as the shore excursions.
All of these modifications are part and parcel with the fact that more and more businesses have realized that travel options such as Carnival cruises are perfect for corporate retreats— where meals, entertainment, and activities are all-inclusive and meetings are married with relaxation.
Carnival Cruise Line is the "world's most popular cruise line" because of the fact that not only are vacationers flooding its decks, but a plethora of business travelers are using Carnival cruises for corporate meetings, conventions, and VIP treatment.
In a world in which many people squeeze in some overtime during their vacation, Carnival Cruise Line has made it easier for the workaholic to email clients, crunch numbers, or just say hi to grandma back on shore via email. Still, there are plenty of people out there who use their Carnival cruises for one thing and one thing only: pure, unadulterated vacationing. For those people, Carnival Cruise Line still has all the fun and exciting attractions for which their known—no laptops required.
