Royal Caribbean to give free Windows tablet to each of its 40,000 ship workers

All 40,000 ship-based employees of the Royal Caribbean cruise line will soon be given a free Windows tablet for use in their work as part of an overall technology plan from the pleasure cruise company.

The program will start with the newest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, Quantum of the Sea, and will be completed sometime in October for all of the cruise line's other employees. The tablets themselves will be built by a company called HEXA. In a statement, Microsoft says of the tablet:

"It's incredibly thin and light, which will accommodate the very active, very mobile lifestyle of its employees. It will allow the crew to leverage Office 365 apps, nearly limitless OneDrive cloud storage and the ability to stay connected with friends and family with Skype. Royal Caribbean International also selected Windows because of the choice available to them across form factors and price points, which was unmatched by competing offerings."

Royal Caribbean will also have a number of other technology advances on board the Quantum of the Sea ship, including RFID WOWband wristbands that will serve as the room key for passenger and more. There will also be custom apps provided to passenger to help book dinner reservations, arrange for off-ship excursions and more. There will even be a Bionic Bar on board that will feature robot bartenders attempting to mix drinks.

What do you think of this new Windows tablet sales win to the Royal Caribbean fleet?

Source: Microsoft, Royal Caribbean

John Callaham