The world’s first smart ship, Quantum of the Seas, lets you open your cabin door with the swipe of your wrist and offers amazing digitally enhanced entertainment with 12K high definition screens. Among all of these technological advancements, there is one that just might make you feel like you are in an episode of the Jetsons!

Yes, now, you too can have your own personal robot serving you a cocktail. You will find your own personal Rosie at the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas. This venue lets you go from ordering your drink on a tablet, to watching the robots make your drink, to sipping on your cocktail, all without having to speak to a human being.

See these robots at the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas in action:

 What is the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas?

Hailed as “mixology meets technology”, this lounge on deck 5 is a bar that is manned (pun intended) by two robots. Using robotics from Makr Shakr, who rents and sells these systems, the technology at the Bionic Bar enables the cruiser to enjoy a variety of steel-crafted (oh, I have plenty more where that came from) cocktails and some signature drinks exclusive to the venue. While at this venue, you can also enjoy some upbeat music being spun by the resident DJ.

 Hey Bartender, Can I Get A Drink?

Before looking over the drink menu, you have to swipe your sea pass card and verify your age. Granted, on cruise ships the carding of individuals looking to be under 21 is a bit lax, but at least the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas tries to weed out minors from consuming alcohol.

Once you are into the menu, you can select from a number of specialty drinks, including the tequila based Don’s Delight, standard cocktails like a Cosmo or a rum and coke, or you can create a customized drink with the liquors of your choice.

There are a wide array of liquors from which to choose, and the bar is very well stocked. Where are the bottles you may ask? Well, they are actually hanging from the ceiling, as the robot arms go from bottle to bottle making your cocktail.

After ordering and paying for your cocktail (which costs about $6.00), your drink shows up on one of two boards which flanks the robots. When the venue is busy, you can often find a queue of 4 or 5 cruisers waiting for their drinks. The Bionic Bar definitely does not have a speed well so be ready to wait as the process from start to finish can be quite time consuming.

Shaken, Not Stirred

The construction of your drink is chartered on the menu board. As one of the robots makes your drink, you can see what actions are taking place, shot by shot.

It starts with the robots grabbing a plastic cup, yes no glasses here folks. After placing the cup on a specific weighted area, the robots grab a metal shaker, fill it with ice, and then it’s up to the ceiling, as liquor is dispensed into the shaker using a valve system. From bottle to bottle, the robots at the Bionic Bar on Quantum of Seas go until all of the alcohol as been accurately measured.

Depending on the type of drink you order, if there is juice or soda to be included, then the robot swings over to a fountain area to get the necessary non-alcoholic additions.

After a few quick shakes of the drink, or swirls if the cocktail does not need to be blended, the contents of the shaker are dumped into the cup.

It is now time for you to acquire your drink. The menu board will show that your cocktail is ready and at which station you need to retrieve it. To verify that it is you, when you stroll up to the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas, you will need to swipe your sea pass card again to release the beverage.

Final Thoughts

Despite the cool concept, unfortunately, the Bionic Bar fell short on some key metrics. It is definitely something that we suggest experiencing once, but this will probably not be your go-to bar on the ship. There were time out errors on the tablets when ordering drinks, occasional fumbles on the part of the robots, duplicate drinks made at times, and difficulty releasing drinks from the stations when completed. Due to these flaws in the technology, there were still usually 2 staff members present at the Bionic Bar to assist cruisers with these issues.

Hopefully, these issues can be addressed as the concept is refined. The Bionic Bar is slated to be a venue on Royal Caribbean’s new Anthem of the Seas debuting in 2015 and Harmony of the Seas debuting in 2016.

Go and order a drink, take some pictures (and perhaps video) of the experience, but then you will probably never visit this venue again, unless you want to watch the show.

Comments:

Have you tried the Bionic Bar on Quantum of the Seas? Let us know your experiences at this technologically enhanced bar. Drop us an anchor below to share your favorite bar experiences. We would love to know what your thoughts are when it comes to human vs. machine bartenders!