If you’ve ever waited in line on a cruise ship to book a shore excursion (duh, hasn’t everybody?), then you should know that help is on the way.
The industry leader here, it appears, is Royal Caribbean.
In one of those little items that slipped through the cracks of most newsroom floors, on Royal Caribbean ships you will be able to book shore excursions by swiping your keycard at special kiosks and then selecting your shore excursion on the screen. This also applies to 
reservations for shows and specialty restaurants (if there’s a fee it’s automatically billed to your account; if it’s something free your keycard becomes a reserved ticket).
But the big one here is the shore excursion.
All 22 Royal Caribbean ships will soon be equipped with these electronic upgrades, putting more planning in the hands of the passenger and — in the perfect world —making the cruise ship experience more efficient. Other lines (Princess for one) also enable you to book shore excursions and make reservations on the Internet…the Royal Caribbean process is like doing it on the “INTRA-net.”
If we had to guess, kiosks will soon be on major cruise line ships everywhere.