My recent trips on NCL EPIC and the Disney Dream both featured the latest in on-board technology. Both were very user-friendly and either useful or just plain fun.
The EPIC by utilizing an iConcierge app lets passengers access their accounts, events, schedules, as well as make dinner/show reservations and peruse excursions...in fact you can even contact other passengers anywhere on the ship.
Although I think this is really cool and could be helpful on a ship this size I opted not to contact others in our party using this app. It requires always having your cellphone or iPad with you, something I try to avoid so much to the sometimes grumbles of others I was not reachable every minute of the vacation.There's just something about carrying around my electronics on vacation that did not appeal to me. Am I in the minority? Maybe so, but truthfully I don't care....I'm on vacation!!!!! I did however like the account balance feature, checking balances was very easy and alleviates the need for piles of receipts I usually accumulate on cruises, (not that I ever reconciled them anyway, they just pile up and I would discard them at the end of the week, too tired to be bothered with looking and sure I'd be missing some anyway).
A much more useful electronic wonder on the ship are the interactive touch screen maps by the elevators. These I used (a lot...big ship), you simply touch where you wanted to go (specific restaurant, bar, lounge, etc) and the screen would reveal a map with directions on how to get to your desired location both written directions and visual mapping....really cool, really helpful.
Disney on the other hand uses their electronics for pure fun. They have worked the electronics into activities, advertised for kids but also engaging for adults. The interactive artwork in the stairwells and common areas take shipboard scavenger hunts to a new level, something that really has to be experienced to be appreciated (we'll book you on it, contact us at www.ShipAhoyCP.com). Interactive artwork, video characters that recognize and talk to you at dinner...really cool and very entertaining, now these are electronics I can roll with!
There are other inroads of electronics being made on other cruise lines too, most including iPads. Some for enrichment programs, some for shipboard activities so I do not mean to single out theses two lines, in fact they are my favorite lines at the moment.
The question arises however, is this what passengers really want?
Personally I like to cruise because it lets me get away from electronics! Not being attached to my cellphone, iPad, laptop & voicemail is actually quite liberating. It actually promotes family time, something that has been dwindling lately due to the electronic bombarded environment we live in.
I'm not totally against them, my idea of vacation may be a bit old-fashioned but to me when I'm on vacation I am escaping the daily grind...electronics are part of my daily grind, I can do without them once in awhile. Vacations are not cheap so why not stop and smell the roses so to speak, looking into a device all the time takes away from the interactions that make vacations great.
What do you think? Electronics yay or nay? I'd like to hear how everyone feels about this.
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