Ahoy! Celebrity Cruise Lines welcomes an Apple Store on board

Having withdrawal from all things Mac while on a sea voyage? Here's some future therapy. The Celebrity Cruise ship company has announced a new Internet Cafe on the new 2,850 passenger Celebrity Eclipse which sets sail in April. The iLounge, as Celebrity has named it, will include a mini Apple Store where passengers can buy MacBooks, iPods and other accessories.

Passengers will also be able to sign up for courses in iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and iWeb. Two other new ships are coming on line in 2011 and 2012, and both will have the iLounge aboard.

Celebrity operates ships that cruise to Alaska, The Caribbean, Europe, South America, Canada and New England.

This isn't the first time Macs have gone to sea. Back in 2008 we reported on Macs being installed on Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for passenger use. Macs are also showing up in hotels and other places where tourists gather.

It sounds like a cool idea. Note to potential passengers: check out those internet costs when aboard. They are just a bit high.

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Source: http://www.celebritycruises.com/

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Having withdrawal from all things Mac while on a sea voyage? Here's some future therapy. The Celebrity Cruise ship company has announced a...

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Mitchell Scott

This isn't an "Apple Store." It's an Apple reseller.

February 20 2010 at 2:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Adam

"You know, most piracy is of the non-lethal software variety, and then there's lethal piracy at sea. We asked ourselves if there was room for something in the middle."

February 20 2010 at 11:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

williamlane

Let me rephrase that, SJ doesn't own 'ALL' the stock, but he owns a lot.

February 20 2010 at 11:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

williamlane

Interesting. Who is that guy that owns all the stock of Disney and in turn its cruise line? Often seen wearing black turtlenecks... dynamic presenter.... Oh yeah, Steve Jobs. I suppose the Disney ship doesn't have this (yet) due in part to its 'tiny' size compared to these monster ships.

February 20 2010 at 11:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

quinton

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have already been using Macs aboard their ships for years. Currently the first ship in the Solstice class (the Celebrity Solstice) has Mac Minis running a modified custom media center OS in every stateroom on the ship (Eclipse is Solstice class). Royal Caribbean has done the same. I have personally used the services and they work great. A bit like Front Row but even cooler. Over a hundred new release movies are free to watch on demand (like iTunes.) In addition, you can order room service, view your account, and track the ships location on a map. What I wonder is, is Apple working with Celebrity to integrate these systems and design the software, or is Celebrity doing this on their own. The former seems much more likely.

The ships backbone for the equipment is run on Xserves as well.

February 20 2010 at 11:11 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to quinton's comment

Shaun

It's nice to hear about your experience with the product.

February 20 2010 at 2:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jonnypjh

Good for profit, but isn't the point of taking a cruise to relax and escape from our hectic technical lifestyle?
I'm proud to see the Mac and Apple brand expanding to new venues and outlets, but I have a valid point.

February 20 2010 at 10:43 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to jonnypjh's comment

milkmage

so every electronic communication you've ever recieved is job related?
...I feel really sorry for you.

February 20 2010 at 11:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

saciron

Sign me up to be an iLounge Genius. :-)

February 20 2010 at 10:37 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Alex

The iShip!

February 20 2010 at 10:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Dave