CRUISING INTO THE DIGITAL AGE To remain competitive, technology on modern cruise ships must rival that of high-end hotels and resorts. This includes advanced digital in-cabin amenities to enhance the guest experience. Passenger cabins today feature high-throughput Wi-Fi, smart TVs offering a wide selection of entertainment options, and interactive digital control panels for customizing lighting, adjusting cabin temperature, and requesting and scheduling services. Some cruise lines even feature virtual digital balconies and portholes in windowless, interior cabins, providing a real-time view of the ocean. 2 To provide passengers with unique, memorable experiences throughout the ship, cruise lines are also turning to 4D virtual reality (VR) for onboard, immersive entertainment. Digital touchscreen kiosks throughout common areas provide interactive ship maps and display daily activities and events. Most major cruise lines now offer interactive mobile apps for digital check-in, dinner reservations, booking shore excursions, tracking spending, and even unlocking
cabin doors—making pervasive bow-to-stern, high-throughput Wi-Fi an absolute essential. While technology on a cruise ship is vital to the passenger experience, it is also critical for health and safety. Cruise ships are floating cities with thousands of passengers and crew members sharing a confined space. To prevent security incidents and enable rapid response, cruise ships need real-time, secure networks that prevent cyberattacks and maintain seamless communications. They utilize emerging technologies, such as AI-powered video surveillance and a wide array of sensors, for various purposes, including man-overboard and collision detection, as well as monitoring a vessel’s structural integrity. Because the cruise ship environment can facilitate the spread of bacteria and viruses, several cruise lines are leveraging technology to prevent costly outbreaks that can halt operations. This includes wearables, touchless symptom detection, and even UV-C germ-zapping robots, along with hundreds of IoT sensors to monitor everything from air quality and ventilation to food storage conditions.
Unlocking Connectivity at Sea: How Passive Optical LANs Revolutionize Cruise Ship Technology Deployments By Karen Leos
Cruise ships are true feats of modern engineering, with some megaships as long as the Empire State Building is tall and carrying more than 3,000 passengers. These massive floating cities are undergoing digital transformation to meet passenger expectations for the same fast, secure, and reliable wireless connectivity and digital services they enjoy at land-based hotels and resorts. Considering that a cruise ship can cost more than $1 billion to build and up to $1 million per day to operate, cruise lines must also leverage technology to optimize operational efficiencies and lower costs—all
while reducing their environmental impact. 1 Deploying network infrastructure to support digital transformation poses significant challenges for cruise ships due to their physical and logistical constraints, as well as the harsh marine conditions. Traditional copper-based networks are proving to be a bottleneck for several reasons, including distance limitations, higher power consumption, and larger cable diameters and weights. Passive optical LANs are emerging as a transformative, cost-effective, and sustainable solution for modern shipboard networking.
PHOTO : Some cruise lines offer virtual digital balconies for economy interior cabins. Source: Royal Caribbean.
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ICT TODAY
October/November/December 2025
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