How Royal Caribbean Wants to Make Smart Ships Smarter

Two years ago, Royal Caribbean International introduced Quantum of the Seas as the "world's first smartship," complete with faster-than-ever Wi-Fi at sea, robotic bartenders, virtual balconies and RFID luggage tags. Mike Giresi thinks that was a great start, but the new senior vice president and chief information officer at Royal Caribbean Cruises believes there's much more the company can do when it comes to technology on and off ships. Giresi joined Royal Caribbean in the fall after working as CIO at companies including Tory Burch, Direct Brands, Inc., and Godiva Chocolatier. He said he had been on a couple of cruises before getting the job at Royal Caribbean, but didn't consider himself "a lifetime cruiser." Still, the opportunity to work in an industry that provides so much access to customers appealed to him. "Here are folks that are spending their discretionary time and money on our brand; there is so much we can do for them," he said. "We build these engineeri