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Smart cruising: a look inside Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

Featuring online check-in, a robotic bar, RFID-based passenger services and one of the world's most advanced entertainment systems, Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas is billed as the first 'smart ship'. Cruise Critic UK editor Adam Coulter talks about his experience on the maiden voyage and whether the cruise liner lives up to expectations.

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On 31 October 2014, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas – billed as the world’s first smart ship – sailed out of Southampton, UK, packed with journalists and travel agents for its maiden voyage. Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, the 348m long ship can accommodate 4,905 guests and 1,500 crew members and offers 2,090 staterooms, 375 of which offer ‘virtual balconies’ made up from 80-inch LED screens. But it is Quantum’s state-of-the-art communications technology and software that really makes this ship stand out from all the rest.

Quantum of the Seas has been promoted as having more bandwidth than all cruise ships in the world combined, a smart check-in system that takes ten minutes, a smart concierge service which uses RFID and apps that allow guests to make bookings on their smartphone and a futuristic theatre, TWO70, which uses the most technologically advanced entertainment systems in the world.

With so much hype surrounding the launch of the extraordinary-sounding ship, the question remains of whether or not it genuinely lives up to its billing. Frances Marcellin spoke with Adam Coulter, UK editor of Cruise Critic, just after he disembarked Quantum to find out whether his experience was as smart as expected.

Frances Marcellin: Having spent two nights and three days on board the Quantum of the Seas, what was your overall impression of the ship?

Adam Coulter: I’ve been on a fair amount of ships in my time, but this was impressive. There were some old hands on board who have been doing the cruise ship beat for many years and they were blown away too. Royal Caribbean has broken the ship down into six “smart” areas of innovative technology – concierge, experiences, service, sustainability, connect and check-in – and it was the online check-in that really impressed me, it was absolutely seamless.

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FM: Royal Caribbean says that you can be from quayside to deck in ten minutes, is this really the case?

AC: I tested that actually and I’d say in theory that you could do it in ten, but for me it was nearer 15. But, you know, this was the very first voyage and it wasn’t the actual check-in that took the time, it was the security.

With their system you’re encouraged to check-in online and so all the pre-check-in details, such as passport and credit card details, are entered beforehand. Then you’re sent a barcode that goes straight to your smartphone. This is the part that really struck me: there weren’t any check-in desks, just staff standing with iPads.

There was just one person in front of me and I had a two-minute wait before walking straight through. Usually on cruises you can be waiting around for hours, but this really puts the customer back in control.

FM: Part of the smart concierge service includes RFID “wowbands” – which you can make purchases with and access staterooms – as well as the apps, Cruise Planner and Royal iQ, which allow you to book reservations and manage your holiday calendar on your smartphone. How did you find these experiences?

AC : The RFID bands work in a similar way to key cards, however, when you put your key card against your phone it tends to delete it because it is magnetic, plus you have to bring something to keep the key card in. As the RFID bands are wearable they are more comfortable and remove worry about where the key card actually is, so those two aspects make them really useful. I think in the future that Royal Caribbean will probably get rid of the key cards all together.

The apps have great functionality and Royal iQ was pre-populated so I was regularly receiving alerts about where I needed to be. Usually on a cruise you’re given acres of paper and I founded it really useful that all the information I needed was coming through on my phone – it really is all singing and all dancing.

FM: Using satellites launched with technology partner O3b Network, Quantum is supposed to have broadband speeds that match the fastest connections onshore – is this the case?

AC: The Wi-Fi wasn’t as fast as I was hoping, but then again the ship was packed with journalists sending the most enormous files, which is unusual, so I couldn’t give a fair review of the Wi-Fi. What I can say is that it was better, although a little patchy, than what I’ve experienced previously on a ship. Most ships will tell you not to use Skype as it’s too slow, but if in the future you can use Skype and Facetime then it’s truly bringing the ship into the modern world with what we take for granted at home. It will allow real-time social networking, tagging, chatting to loved ones and I think this is where it will come into its own.

FM: Do you think that Royal Caribbean is making big efforts to attract Generation Y to the cruise world?

AC: There is definitely a push towards a younger, savvy generation. A number of people might be put off by it at first as it could seem to be depersonalising things, but there is the human touch if you need it.

Royal Caribbean is all about family and those coming with teens, who all have smartphones as they have been brought up with them, expect this level of technology. They are playing catch-up in a way, but it does push the bar. I’ve never seen anything as technologically advanced.

FM: How did you find being served by robots in the Bionic Bar?

AC: The Bionic Bar is made up from two robots who make cocktails, and you place your orders via fixed iPads. I would say, though, that it is a bit more gimmicky than the TWO70 theatre, which just blows everything else away.

FM: With no backstage, just under stage and over stage, TWO70 is said to revolutionise entertainment whether on board or land. Did it live up to expectation?

AC: The TWO70 space is vast, like an amphitheatre. The windows are about three decks high and offer a beautiful view most of the time, but then the surface is covered by something like 18 projectors with digital resolution of 12k (which is apparently almost double of any Imax cinema), which converts the entire back of the ship into a vast screen.

Up front there are six robots over seven feet high each, which move separately or in time and interact with the performances. The show, “Starwater”, was incredible. It took 110 animators put together some of the films you see and more than 1,000 people were involved overall in this one entertainment space.

I got a quote from Nick Weir, the vice president of entertainment for Royal Caribbean and he said that after living in Las Vegas for ten years he wanted to give the city a run for its money. I’ve been to Las Vegas several times and seen a number of his shows, and I really think he has – it is amazing.

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Available aboard the entire Royal Caribbean fleet is VOOM, powered by Starlink. Instant streaming, real-time sharing, and 24/7 connectivity mean that no matter where in the world you take your guests, they’ll always be close to home.

Attendees will be able to stay connected with the office via email and video chat, touch base with family and friends through texting, Facetime, or Skype, and share their unforgettable Royal Caribbean event experience on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with VOOM. No blackout areas, no downtime – just a lightning-fast connection that’s six times more powerful than any other Internet at sea.

And to make it even simpler for you, VOOM packages can be purchased before you even come on board!

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Our touchscreen wayfinders keep your guests up-to-date with all of the activities you’ve got planned as well as let them find their way around the ship. These intuitive and eye-catching signs update in real time and add an interactive element that keeps your guests informed.

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From video walls and overhead projectors to monitors and microphones, Royal Caribbean offers the best in event technology as well as the professionals you need to help you and your group communicate with ease. Impress with sound and lighting, stay in touch with tele-conferencing and cellphone connectivity, and make your point clearly with podiums and plasma screen TVs. All part of the comprehensive event services offered at Royal Caribbean.

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Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship aims to reduce food waste with AI technology

World's second-largest cruise ship to arrive at Port Canaveral next week

The world's second-largest cruise ship will arrive at Port Canaveral next week, providing another milestone for the world's second-busiest cruise port.

Royal Caribbean International's Utopia of the Seas is schedule to sail into Port Canaveral the morning of July 11. It will begin sailings on July 19, offering three- and four-night voyages to the Bahamas, with departures on Fridays and Mondays. Most of the sailings will have port-of-call stops in Nassau and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island.

Utopia of the Seas is the world's second-largest cruise ship, behind Royal Caribbean's Miami-based Icon of the Seas, which debuted there in January. Utopia has 18 decks; 2,834 staterooms; a double-occupancy capacity of 5,668; and a crew of 2,290.

Utopia's plans for the port: Giant cruise ship Utopia of the Seas coming to Port Canaveral, where sister ship already sails

Royal Caribbean is marketing the ship as "the world's biggest weekend," alluding to its massive size and relatively short cruises.

Port Canaveral CEO John Murray said the Utopia of the Seas has so many attractions onboard that, for many passengers, "the ship itself is really a destination. So it's really cool."

"The ship is coming straight to Port Canaveral from the shipyard," Murray said told port commissioners at their meeting last week. "This ship is built specifically for the three- and four-day cruises, and Royal Caribbean selected us for that honor. So we're really excited, and we want to want to do a good job with it. It's going to be really exciting to see it sitting right outside of Cruise Terminal 1."

Murray said he expects the addition of the Utopia will give a boost to passenger traffic at Port Canaveral, which has been relatively flat in April and May compared with previous-year numbers, after posting strong year-over-year increases during the winter season.

The Utopia will be one of three Royal Caribbean ships based at Port Canaveral when it enters the lineup, joining the Adventure of the Seas and the Wonder of the Seas.

Utopia has 22 restaurants; 13 bars and lounges; six special areas for young children and teens; eight themed neighborhoods; the AquaTheater, Royal Theater and Studio B entertainment venues; five pools; two casinos with more than 370 slot machines and nearly 30 table games; and two rock-climbing walls.

The ship also features the FlowRider surf simulator; a 10-story zip line; and The Ultimate Abyss, which is the longest dry slide at sea at 259 feet, plummeting 10 decks.

Powered by liquefied natural gas

The Utopia will be the third ship based at Port Canaveral to be powered by liquefied natural gas, a fuel that is cleaner-burning that traditional marine fuels. The other LNG-powered ships at Port Canaveral are the Carnival's Mardi Gras and Disney's Wish.

Before its first cruise with paying passengers, the Utopia will undergo its final U.S. Coast Guard inspection. The ship also will host a formal ship-naming ceremony, as well as a traditional maritime plaque-and-key exchange between Royal Caribbean and Port Canaveral officials.

In all, Royal Caribbean operates the world's seven largest cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean officially took delivery of the Utopia on June 13, after more than two years of construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said the Utopia of the Seas will provide cruise passengers "the keys to the ultimate weekend. This is the short vacation that packs every way to make amazing memories in a three-night weekend or four-night weekday getaway."

Dave Berman is business editor at  FLORIDA TODAY.  Contact Berman at  [email protected] , on X at  @bydaveberman  and on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

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Royal caribbean is making a big bet on technology.

For the last few years, Royal Caribbean ( RCL ) has been on an almost maniacal push to turn its cruise ships into technology showpieces. Most of the developments are one-off technologies, massively expensive and time-consuming to develop and debug: robot bartenders, battery-powered bumper cars, a dedicated satellite for providing internet service, and so on.

I now realize, of course, that they’re installing all of this tech for some perfectly self-interested reasons. One, of course, is to differentiate this cruise line from it rivals. Another is to keep the passengers entertained and having a good time. (The novelty of some of these features wears off quickly—but since you’re on board for only a few days, you don’t care.)

Last month, at an event called Sea Beyond, the company unveiled a showcase of the next technologies it’s developing. About a thousand journalists and travel agents toured these prototypes at the Brooklyn Navy Yards. I was among the invited, since—full disclosure—I had served as the emcee for the launch of an earlier RC ship in 2015.

Here’s what you have to look forward to—or maybe not.

Automated checkin with face recognition

As anyone who’s taken a cruise can tell you, the boarding process doesn’t get your vacation off to a great start. You’re herded into this huge hangar-like processing center at the port, and you wait in long lines dragging your luggage and children, so that you can reach a desk to get your photo taken and your room key issued.

RC’s existing boarding process is more efficient, because you can check yourself in and take your own photo at home, using the company’s app. But starting next year, the company hopes, things will be even quicker: You’ll simply stride onto the ship. Face recognition cameras will identify you (based on a photo you uploaded in the app), and a screen will welcome you by name as you walk through the metal detector.

They had the system working as we entered the Navy Yards building.

At the moment, it’s a purely optical system—there’s no 3-D modeling of your face, as there is on the iPhone X —so in theory, some evildoer could fool it with a photo. (But why would they bother? The minute the real you showed up, the system would flag you as already having checked in, and security would straighten it out.)

Drinks anywhere

At the event, you could order free drinks from the app—wherever you happened to be in the building. The waiters could find you, bearing your drink, thanks to GPS-like screens built into their serving trays, showing your current location and your face.

It worked great, even when I tried to fool my waiter by dashing into a different room when I saw him coming. Twice.

The system relies on Bluetooth beacons throughout the space; eventually, they’ll be installed on the ships themselves. Everybody wins: You don’t stand in lines, and the cruise line sells more drinks (because people don’t have to stand in line).

I interviewed Joey Hasty, a former Disney Imagineer who now leads RC’s innovation lab in Miami. Aren’t there some passengers who’ll find all of this tracking and facial scanning a little creepy?

“You can always opt out,” he replied. “If you really want to, the line will always be there.”

By far the weirdest new technology on display is something they call virtual-reality dining.

I went into the mockup restaurant without having any idea what that meant. I sat down at a long table and put on HTC Vive virtual-reality goggles.

What I saw inside the goggles was the inside of a Japanese tea house with traditionally decorated paper walls. A soothing female voice in the headphones explained that I was about to be transported.

In front of me, a waiter set down a tray containing three morsels of food. It was basically sushi, but I didn’t know that; all I could see was three glowing, sparkly colorful orbs—and my own hands, represented as silhouettes.

When the soothing voice gave me the go-ahead, I picked up the first orb and popped it into my mouth. At that moment, the music changed (the tray had sensors that knew when the bite was gone), and the walls of the tea room flew away in animated fragments, revealing that I was now in a cherry-blossom garden.

The same thing happened with each of the other two bites: the scenery and the music would change. Lighting, weather, locale.

My first thought was, “ Man, this is weird.” And what does it get you? It isolates you from your dining companions. Furthermore, how food looks is an essential part of how it tastes; now you can’t see your food.

“It turns out that all of our senses are processed by the same part of our brain,” Hasty explained, “so it’s possible for us to use the visuals and the audio to hack and hijack your senses, to heighten the dining experience.” And I have to admit that that’s true: At this moment, I remember each of those three bites incredibly vividly (but weirdly).

“It might not ever make the best seven-course meal,” Hasty says, “but we think it can make an amazing dessert bar, for instance.”

Stateroom of the future

On RC’s existing Quantum-class ships, they’ve done something clever with interior cabins (the cheap ones that don’t have windows): Where the window would be, they’ve installed a floor-to-ceiling LCD screen. It displays whatever you would see if you had a window, thanks to a camera feed from outside the ship. In that way, it doesn’t feel so isolated from the real world.

But at the Sea Beyond event, a much more advanced stateroom concept was on display.

“As our ships get bigger and bigger and bigger, you start to be removed a little bit more and more from the ocean and the ports of call,” Hasty told me. “We believe the stateroom should connect you more with the ocean and our ports of call. And so we’re experimenting with ways to bring that outside in.”

The entire ceiling is a giant 4K OLED screen. There’s a foot-wide “river” winding its way across the floor—also an OLED screen. Two large “windows” on either wall are—that’s right—OLED screens, too.

All of these screens are synchronized so that they show different angles of the same scene. They can show, for example, the current conditions outside the ship. “We mirror exactly what you see outside, using 4K cameras. But since we can show you what’s really out there, we thought, ‘What if we could take you to fantastical places?’ Or maybe you wanted better weather or a sunset, a different time of day. So we let our guests control those scenes. With the tap of a button, you can turn daytime into a sunset, or the room can help you fall asleep by creating a canopy of stars.”

I tried out the sunset scene, the tropical rainforest scene, and the starry-night scene, complete with shooting stars. All of those screens, combined with a matching soundtrack, created truly transporting moments.

And the Misc.

Some of the other tech on display included:

Self-unlocking staterooms . The staterooms on display didn’t require a key or a wristband; if you have a smartphone, the door unlocks automatically when you approach. The lights come on, too.

Interior consumer tech . Inside, every room has an Apple ( AAPL ) TV (they’ve figure out how to auto-wipe the Apple TV after you leave, so that the next guest can log in with his own account). And Microsoft’s ( MSFT ) Cortana is always ready, so that you can adjust the temperature, the lighting, or the curtains with voice commands.

AR captain’s view . Ordinarily, when the captain is operating in fog or dark, he uses a radar screen to see what hazards are around the ship. But we also saw a mockup of a new pilot’s station, where a huge screen displayed an augmented-reality view of the channel and the buoys that would ordinarily be obscured.

AR posters . On one wall of the event space, RC had set up what looked like movie posters—but if you looked at them through the app on your phone, they became simple animated games.

Fuel cell demo . The cruise line will join Viking Cruise Lines and others in introducing fuel cells to power its ships. Fuel cells convert hydrogen directly into heat and water, producing no exhaust of any other kind; they’re 80% efficient, versus less than 50 for today’s diesel engines.

Sailing soon

“I thought about Sea Beyond as a giant play test,” Hasty told me. “We got to put that experience in front of 1,000 people and see how people reacted.” He says that of these technologies will be on the company’s next-generation ships, called Edge (now under construction in France); and some will be retrofitted onto existing ships.

But isn’t it possible, I asked Hasty, that all of this technology risks killing the seafaring adventure of being on a ship at sea in the first place—the escape of it all?

“You know, I don’t think so,” he replied. “When we ask our guests what they really want from a vacation, they want more time with their family, they want more time for fun. No one says, ‘I want to spend an hour checking in,’ or ‘I want to wait in line at the bar for a drink.’ We talk a lot about giving you back that first day, that you sort of have to give up to get there. And we’re using technology to make that happen.”

More from David Pogue:

Battle of the 4K streaming boxes: Apple, Google, Amazon, and Roku

iPhone X review: Gorgeous, pricey, and worth it

Inside the Amazon company that’s even bigger than Amazon

The $50 Google Home Mini vs. the $50 Amazon Echo Dot — who wins?

The Fitbit Ionic doesn’t quite deserve the term ‘smartwatch’

Augmented reality? Pogue checks out 7 of the first iPhone AR apps

David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, is the author of “iPhone: The Missing Manual.” He welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email .

Designing the Future of Cruising: Royal Caribbean’s Innovation Lab Fuses Technology and Creativity

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Utopia of the Seas Construction Highlights

June 2024 – After more than two years of construction,  Utopia of the Seas  has officially joined the Royal Caribbean family. From the first cut of steel in April 2022 and the installation of the signature AquaTheater in July 2023 to the moment the keys were handed over in June 2024, the ultimate short getaway is five weekends away from its July debut in Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida. Watch the highlights of  Utopia ’s construction in Saint-Nazaire, France, to see how it’s all come together. 

June 2024 – Royal Caribbean’s new Utopia of the Seas , the ultimate short getaway, introduces the boldest Ultimate Abyss yet. A behind-the-scenes look at the installation of the longest dry slide at sea – now 43 feet longer at 259 feet – shows how the experts in Saint-Nazaire, France, lifted and assembled multiple pieces and new features like zoom booster rollers and transparent racing windows. The piece de resistance? The signature anglerfish and its 38 teeth. Thrill seekers can cheers to weekend energy – and adventure – any day of the week when Utopia debuts with 3-night weekend and 4-night weekday getaways from Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, in July.  

November 2023 – After more than seven years of dreaming, Royal Caribbean International’s highly anticipated Icon of the Seas has become a reality. The recently completed construction of the first-of-its-kind vacation took place over the course of 900 days in Turku, Finland, starting with the first cut of steel in June 2021. Thousands involved have since accomplished a series of milestones and never-before-seen feats, like the installation of the single largest glass and steel structure to be lifted onto a cruise ship and engineering more water on board than ever before across seven pools, six record-breaking waterslides and more. Watch the highlights of the two-plus years of  Icon’s  construction to see how it all came together.

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Cruise lines changing itineraries as Hurricane Beryl charges through Caribbean

With ports on both sides of the state, Florida is a popular destination for those planning a cruise.

Those plans are being disrupted this week after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Carriacou Island Monday as a powerful Category 4 storm with 150-mph winds.

➤  Track Hurricane Beryl

The hurricane has grown since then, and is now at Category 5 hurricane with 165-mph winds as it moves west across the Caribbean Sea . Life-threatening winds and storm surge are expected to impact Jamaica by Wednesday.

Here's what you should know if you're scheduled to take a cruise.

Cruisemapper shows few cruise ships in Caribbean as Hurricane Beryl continues westward path

There were a few cruise ships in the Caribbean Sea early Tuesday, with most only going as far south as Jamaica and most concentrated along the Mexican coast, according to cruisemapper.com.

➤ Interactive map : See the latest on cruise ship locations

A few ships were shown in Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.

Most ships were concentrated around the Bahamas and off the east coast of Florida.

Beryl is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica Wednesday as it moves quickly west across the Caribbean.

How strong is Hurricane Beryl and where is it going?

Spaghetti models: where will hurricane beryl go next.

Special note about spaghetti models:  Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts. 

Royal Caribbean Blog announces changes to itineraries because of Hurricane Beryl

▶  Royal Caribbean had three ships in the southeastern Caribbean as of July 1 and announced it was changing cruise ship itineraries because of Hurricane Beryl, according to Royal Caribbean Blog.

Icon of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Harmony of the Seas have all changed itineraries due to the hurricane, according to the website.

Royal Caribbean's newest and largest ship — Icon of the Seas — departed from Miami, June 29, days before Beryl hit the eastern Caribbean. The ship was scheduled to visit St. Maarten and St. Thomas, among other locations in the eastern Caribbean. Instead it will visit Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico. Cruisemapper.com showed the ship off Cozumel Tuesday morning.

Royal Caribbean notified passengers via email of the itinerary change intended to avoid strong winds and high waves on the sea.

Wonder of the Seas, which left Port Canaveral June 30, will skip two ports and call on Nassau, Bahamas, the blog announced. Tuesday morning, cruisemapper showed the ship between Key West and Cuba.

“We’re terribly sorry for the last-minute change caused by the weather, your safety is our top priority," the letter read.

"Please know, being onboard is one of the safest places because we are faster and can move out of the way of any inclement weather."

Norwegian Cruise Line changes stops to avoid eastern Caribbean

▶  Norwegian Cruise Line  altered nearly the entire itinerary for a week-long sailing on its Norwegian Breakaway ship that departed from Miami on Sunday. The line canceled stops in Honduras, Harvest Caye in Belize, and Costa Maya and Cozumel in Mexico, according to a letter sent to guests the line shared with USA TODAY. The ship will instead visit Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas instead.

“While we share your disappointment, these modifications were made with great consideration as your safety, and that of our crew, is always our number one priority,” the letter said.

The line similarly changed a week-long sailing aboard Norwegian Jade that left Port Canaveral on Saturday, replacing planned calls in Falmouth, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel with San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tortola and Puerto Plata.

Was your cruise itinerary changed? Here's what to do next

Carnival Cruise Line bumps up stops to Mexico

▶  Carnival Cruise Line’s  Carnival Liberty ship moved a planned Friday stop in Cozumel up to Tuesday. The vessel departed on a week-long cruise from New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday,  according to CruiseMapper .

Carnival Horizon, which is sailing a  six-day itinerary  that left Miami on Sunday, will skip a visit to Grand Cayman on Wednesday.

“The safety of our guests and crew is paramount, and we are continuing to monitor forecasts and factor in guidance from the National Hurricane Center, U.S. Coast Guard, and the local port authorities to provide timely updates to our guests as more information becomes available,” spokesperson Matt Lupoli said via email.

Disney Cruise Line replaces Falmouth visit with sea day

▶  Disney Cruise Line’s  Disney Fantasy ship — which set sail on a  week-long cruise  from Port Canaveral on Saturday — will not visit Falmouth as planned on Wednesday. The stop will be replaced with a  sea day .

Cruisemapper showed the ship west of the Cayman Islands Tuesday morning.

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Major Cruise Lines Are Changing Itineraries Because of Hurricane Beryl — What to Know

Hurricane Beryl has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Hurricane Beryl has been upgraded to a Category 5 hurricane, becoming the earliest such storm on record and forcing several cruise lines to reroute their ships to avoid the storm’s path.

The hurricane first made landfall across the Windward Islands, The Weather Channel reported , which include popular vacation spots like Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and Grenada. By Tuesday, Beryl had grown to a dangerous Category 5 storm as it swirled across the eastern Caribbean Sea with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph.

The storm was fueled by record-warm waters, The Associated Press reported .

A​ hurricane warning had been issued for Jamaica, The Weather Channel noted, and a hurricane watch was now in effect for the Cayman Islands. The storm was expected to remain a hurricane and make landfall in the Yucatan Peninsula or Belize by around Friday.

As the hurricane continued to threaten the Caribbean , several cruise lines adjusted their schedules to avoid the storm. Carnival Cruise Line confirmed to Travel + Leisure it canceled a planned stop in Grand Cayman on its Carnival Horizon ship and will visit Cozumel, Mexico, on a different day on the Carnival Liberty . Both Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line altered their schedules, USA Today reported . 

For its part, Celebrity Cruises has rerouted its  Celebrity Beyond  ship, switching up the dates it is scheduled to stop in Bonaire and Aruba, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson told T+L. Similarly, Royal Caribbean has changed the itineraries on several of its ships, including its newest  Icon of the Seas , which will now visit Cozumel, Mexico, and Costa Maya, Mexico, instead of Philipsburg, St. Maarten, and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.

"The safety of our guests, crew, and communities we visit is our top priority. Along with our Chief Meteorologist, we are closely monitoring the progression of Hurricane Beryl, and are making adjustments to some of our Caribbean sailings for the comfort and safety of our guests and crew," the spokesperson told T+L. "Guests and travel advisors will be notified directly of any necessary changes."

Princess Cruises, however, had not yet made any changes to its itineraries, and a spokesperson told T+L the company was “closely monitoring the current conditions.”

“Rest assured, our ships are equipped with the latest technology and are fully capable of altering course to avoid adverse weather,” the spokesperson said. “The flexibility and mobility of our fleet allow us to take necessary precautions swiftly, ensuring a safe and enjoyable cruise experience.”

This year’s Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be "above normal,” which could result in anywhere from 17 to 25 named storms, eight to 13 hurricanes, and four to seven major hurricanes.

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Fire breaks out on Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, cruise ship loses power

A fire broke out on Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas cruise ship on Tuesday.

The ship also experienced a brief loss of power, according to Nathaniel Derrenbacher, a spokesperson for the line’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group . The ship was docked in Costa Maya, Mexico, at the time.

There were no injuries and the small fire – which was isolated to a crew area – was quickly extinguished. The ship’s backup power was activated immediately, and the main power systems were restored.

Derrenbacher did not have additional information on where the fire occurred or how long the power outage lasted.

The vessel’s itinerary was not impacted. Icon, the biggest cruise ship in the world , is currently sailing a week-long Western Caribbean cruise that departed from Miami, Florida on Saturday, according to CruiseMapper . The ship is scheduled to visit Cozumel on Wednesday.

The news comes after a fire occurred in the exhaust funnel of Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Freedom ship in March, the second such fire on the vessel in less than two years.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

Royal Caribbean share the biggest danger facing cruise ships around the world

The biggest safety concern facing cruise lines, Royal Caribbean says, is mother nature.

Passengers on all major cruise lines, including competitiors Celebrity Cruise and Carnival Cruise, are required to user their virtual musters to watch safety videos on personal technology devices before checking in at your station.

MSC Cruises requires passengers to perform a muster drill after watching a safety video from their cabin as well as safety drill for dangerous weather, which is especially important during hurricane season, from June 1 through November 30.

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Royal Caribbean employs two full-time meterologists in an effort to mitigate weather-related disasters and prioritize passenger and crew safety.

The experts explain that sometimes the solution is as simple as rerouting to avoid rain to changing itineraries, noting that it is common for ships sailing from New York to the Caribbean to be diverted to New England and Canada due to certain weather situations.

However, changing plans is always a last result, they explain, as they are aware passengers may have booked excursions, planned travel, and made other arrangements at the port destinations.

Bad weather can also result in changing departure and return times, they add.

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Royal Caribbean Group Chief Meteorologist Craig Setzer shared that this year's hurricane season is anticipated to come early and be one of the most active yet.

Setzer, who has been working for Royal Caribbean for about 10 months, told YouTube channel Hurricane Track about following the moving pieces involved to ensure safety amid inclement weather as "slow moving chess."

"You're anticipating, where's the storm going to be? Where's my ship going to be? What am I going to do with my ship?" the Royal Caribbean Blog reported.

He says cruise ships can avoid last minute changes by tracking the weather forecast. However, the biggest danger is "unforeseen weather events."

"These events can be a microburst of air or a gust front of wind that wasn't visible on the forecast," Matt Hochberg wrote on the Royal Caribbean Blog, which is not affiliated with the cruise line.

However, Setzer reassures that most weather activity can be tracked and mitigated.

"You're not going to be impacted [by a hurricane] on a cruise ship because we're getting away quickly," Setzer said."The one thing that might happen is your itinerary might change."