When I boarded Royal Caribbean’s newest Icon-class mega-ship, Legend of the Seas, for a European sailing this summer, I was expecting world-class acrobatics, Broadway-caliber theater and stellar dining (all of which I got). What I was not expecting was to find myself staring up at cutting-edge, micro-drone technology dancing through the air inside the ship’s premier performance venues.
Yes, drones star in not just one but two shows in the Legend of the Seas entertainment catalogue: Shockwave and Fusion.
Royal Caribbean is no stranger to using drones in its productions. Longtime cruisers might remember early experiments with swarming indoor drone swarms in previous ice and stage shows. But with Legend of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is aggressively pushing the boundaries of what is possible in live entertainment, blending manual flight, preprogrammed indoor GPS systems, and micro-robotics across their two flagship productions: the AquaTheater spectacle Shockwave and the ice-skating show Fusion.
Here’s a look at how those two shows incorporate drones.
From “Is that AI?” to the AquaTheater Stage
During Shockwave — the high-octane production in the glass-domed AquaTheater — the audience is treated to a blend of high-diving, aerial acrobatics, and incredibly talented dance performers. But one of the most stunning moments comes at the very final number, as a micro-butterfly drone flutters above both the deep-water pool and the audience as the performers continue dancing.
It weighs less than two grams, and it’s modeled to look like a butterfly.
“This is the first time that anything like that butterfly has been used in the AquaTheater,” said Alex Marchant, Director of Entertainment Creative Development & Strategy at Royal Caribbean. “The team was originally blown away by how realistic the micro-drone appeared before it ever stepped foot on a ship.”
So how did this little drone end up being arguably the star of the show?
“We work with many companies, and we bring in expertise in those areas like the drone fleet,” he said. This one was a late addition for us. A video was shared with us by one of the vendors who worked with one of the other elements in the show. When we saw it, we thought it was AI. He surprised us and when he showed up, he said he had one of the butterflies. We immediately saw it as part of the show the show.”
While many high-tech entertainment drones rely entirely on automated routines, this tiny butterfly requires a delicate human touch:
“As far as the techies, obviously it’s all very secretive. It’s safe. That thing weighs less than 2 grams. It is manually operated right now.”
Though, Marchant added that it might become automatic in the future.
Watch it here:
Seeing a 2-gram micro-drone navigate the complex AquaTheater environment (including a live audience) is a marvel of precision piloting. In fact, Shockwave was so good I actually went back to see it a second time just to take in the sheer technical coordination of the performance.
Dozens of drones fly over the ice in Fusion
Shockwave has just one drone. Royal Caribbean’s ice show, Fusuion, has dozens of them.
As world-class skaters glide across the ice, a fleet of preprogrammed drones takes to the air above them, projecting light and movement in perfect synchronization with the choreography. The moment they launched, I immediately whipped out my phone to record video of the flight patterns hovering seamlessly over the rink.
Unlike the butterfly in Shockwave, these drones fly under a preprogrammed indoor GPS system. Watch the drones in Fusion here:
Royal Caribbean’s technical evolution
Honestly, I had no idea drones would even be incorporated into the onboard entertainment, and what a fantastic surprise for a drone geek like me!
What makes Royal Caribbean’s entertainment so fascinating from a technology standpoint is their long-term commitment to integrating robotics and autonomous systems into live theater. Drones are just the latest evolution in a multi-year tech journey.
“The robots are always an interesting one for us,” Marchant said. “We’ve been working with them for over a decade.”
Whether it’s preprogrammed swarm routines over an ice rink, sub-two-gram manually piloted micro-drones fluttering over high divers, or robotic screens moving in tandem with dancers, Royal Caribbean continues to prove that live entertainment at sea is one of the most exciting testbeds for modern robotics.
If you ever find yourself booking a cruise on Legend of the Seas, keep your eyes on the stage — and don’t forget to look up!
See more clips from Fusion here:
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