I was a sixteen-year-old novice seaman when I joined my first ship, the RMS Britannic, the last of the White Star Liners. Not much had changed for the passengers since the same company’s RMS Titanic met her tragic end. Progress was slow back then. The Britannic ended her Atlantic voyages with several weeks sailing through Mediterranean ports. Many of our populous coastal municipalities would then have been fishing villages.

The progress in cruising since then has been amazing. To be honest I prefer the old ways but I can’t stop the progress. When passengers boarded those ocean-going greyhounds, there was a long and grueling check-in and boarding process to complete long before one was shown the cabin.

So let’s book a cruise on Royal Caribbean International’s latest cruise ship, the Quantum of the Seas. What comparisons can be made between the two periods? The RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Britannic was just over 700 feet long and weighed just over 27,000 tons. The RCCL Quantum Class liners are twice the length and weigh 168,000 tons, seven times the weight of the White Star liner.

It’s best not to think about the many hours it took to finally retrieve your luggage and make it to one’s cabin on yesterday’s super-liners. Today, RCCL promises its 4,000 boarding passengers that their luggage will be stored and they will be in their cabins within 10 minutes of arrival. Airports take note. There will be no pipes taking you on board. You register online. There are no lines to join and you won’t be waiting in a long line to have your ID checked, paperwork filled out and your stateroom keys picked up. You take a selfie, upload it to the online check-in website, fill in your passport details, and print your boarding pass. Show this to security and proceed to your stateroom.

His is a hotel-type card key but he also receives a WOWband bracelet. It covers all your needs, including purchases on board. It’s waterproof, so wear it when splashing around in any of the many pools and hot tubs on the liner. There is no escape from the office or Facebook. The liner uses a new type of near-Earth satellite. Internet access is guaranteed anywhere on the ship; there are no dead spots.

The ship’s staff are equipped with tablets, not the kind you get from the pharmacy for aches and pains, but handheld computers that take care of every need. A Royal iQ app and Android device allows you to plan, change schedules such as spa appointments, dinner reservations, shore excursions, etc. The cabins have USB charging ports.

There are 45 iQ stations that interact with your WOWband. They access everything and everyone, including their friends on board. The ocean liners also have two robotic waiters. Use your tablet to order cocktails, these are mixed and delivered by robots. Suddenly, a trip on the RMS Titanic seems quite appealing.