Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, features a number of design innovations.
Some are easily noticeable, like the massive "Pearl" that greets passengers as they step onto the Royal Promenade. A visually stunning feature that houses a dramatic staircase to the Pearl Cafe, the Pearl isn't just about creating a photo op. It's a weight-bearing design feature that enabled Royal Caribbean to offer floor-to-ceiling windows inside the cafe.
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Icon of the Seas also has an innovative elevator system that enables passengers to use a kiosk to input their floors and then get directed to specific elevators. The system cuts down on stops and eliminates the frustration of having an elevator stop on seemingly every floor.
The ship, the first of the Icon Class, has numerous small tech touches that improve the passenger experience. For example, it's the first Royal Caribbean (RCL) ship to offer USB-C ports in its cabins, and USB ports are sprinkled broadly around the ship, making it much easier to keep your phone charged.
Icon of the Seas was a white page built for the cruise line. While it does offer many Royal Caribbean favorites like the Central Park outdoor neighborhood and the Playmakers sports bar (along with a number of other bars and restaurants), the ship was designed completely from scratch.
That enabled the cruise line to examine problems passengers faced on its previous ships and find innovative solutions.
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Royal Caribbean solves an audio problem
Royal Caribbean has committed to making its ships accessible. Among many such accommodations, it offers cabins optimized for people with mobility issues.
Icon of the Seas in particular has an innovative new system that will help hearing-impaired passengers while also improving some experiences for all passengers.
Royal Caribbean has partnered with Listen Technologies, the Bluffdale, Utah, producer of communication systems, on a Wi-Fi assistive-listening system on Icon of the Seas.
"The solution is designed to provide guests with a better listening experience in venues onboard the Icon Class ship," RCL says. That's a benefit for hearing-impaired passengers, but in some situations it's a positive for everyone on board.
Working via an app, the system can deliver audio directly to hearing aids. That enables passengers to better hear everything from production shows to ship announcements and any other audio.
Royal Caribbean plans to install Listen Technologies’ audio-over-Wi-Fi assistive-listening solution across its entire fleet. It hasn't yet specified a timeline for fleetwide installation.
Royal Caribbean's new system allows for different feeds
Many Royal Caribbean ships offer a silent "disco" experience where passengers don headphones and can pick from different audio tracks. That enables people with different tastes in music to have fun in the same space with personalized experiences.
The Listen Technologies system will allow for a similar experience in venues like the cruise line's Playmakers sports bar, where different televisions may be showing different games.
Passengers who download the app will be able to pick the audio feed that's from the game they're watching and send it into their headphones. The technology will also enable people who do not have specific hearing issues get around noisy passengers talking over the shows and musicians on board.
The system can also help with language barriers.
"Applications for audio over Wi-Fi systems include assistive listening, language interpretation, streaming audio from video or TV screens, and audio description," The Hearing Review reported.
"For example, guests of the cruise ship visiting an onboard sports bar where an audio over Wi-Fi assistive listening system is offered could use their smartphone to access the audio for different screens in multiple languages."
Currently the system is being offered only in the main theater on Icon of the Seas, but, again, Royal Caribbean plans to expand its use.
