Yesterday, we were reading a press release from Royal Caribbean about the enhancements that will be made to the six Vision Class ships when they go into dry-dock over the next two years.
They had us at “iPad.”
When Splendour of the Seas emerges from its facelift early in 2012, there will be iPads in every stateroom. This is a revolutionary step, and only a little bit surprising in view of the 
fact that Celebrity ships with their iLounges seemed to have some kind of exclusive agreement with Apple, or so we were led to believe.
On the other hand, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are sister cruise lines, under the Royal Caribbean corporate umbrella.
What’s such a big deal about the iPads?
For one thing, whether the PC lovers like it or not, the iPad is the most highly regarded tablet in the computer industry. Also the most popular. Having all passengers with room access to an iPad is going to enable them to monitor their onboard account, watch movies, access the daily schedule and personal itineraries, check out restaurant menus and order room service. In other words, everything passengers have been doing on the room TVs.
Oh yes, and did we say they can go online?
Therein lies the real winner for Royal Caribbean. Having the Internet at their fingertips is likely to encourage customers to use it more — at a cost, of course — than they would by visiting the computer area and waiting for a machine to be available.
How long until iPads go viral in the Royal Caribbean family?
DAILY DEAL:
Norwegian Dawn
10 nights
March 18, 2012
Miami (return): Southern Caribbean
Inside $719
www.ncl.com