Tom Stieghorst
"Daddy, what's a key?"
I can imagine a young father being asked that question on a cruise ship in the not too distant future.
Without much fanfare, the pin-tumbler lock and key are becoming obsolete, at least in the travel industry. The last car I rented started with a push button. The last vacation home I occupied had a combination keypad above the door handle.
Now there's word that the Marriott and Hilton hotel chains will triple the number of rooms next year that can be opened by smart phone.
Of course, serrated metal keys have been gone from cruise ships for decades. Since I started going on ships in the mid-1980s, I don't remember a single one having a traditional key. The closest I can think of was the 88-passenger Un-Cruise Adventures ship, the Legacy, where there were no keys and cabin doors locked from the inside only. Guests were simply expected not to pilfer each other's belongings when the cabins were vacant.
Cruise lines were early adopters of the plastic card key, invented in 1949 to control parking lot gates. They've stuck with it because of its multifunctionality. In addition to unlocking doors, the magnetic striped cards double as payment devices and security badges for embarking and disembarking the ship.
The primacy of the key card at sea was challenged in 2014 when Royal Caribbean International introduced its WOWband on the Quantum of the Seas. The WOWband packed the same functionality of a card key into a wearable blue rubber wrist-watch type device. Hallelujah. No more trips to the guest services desk to have your card re-magnetized.
WOWbands, which use short range radio signals to open locks, are a leap forward but for now are available on only a few Royal ships. Another cruise company is poised to unveil a similar technology soon that will also send card keys into retirement.
Sure, you may still need a metal key to lock your bicycle or tighten your aunt's old roller skates, or stay at one of those charming old hotels in Italy or France. But for most travelers, the reign of the key, a technology that dates back to ancient Egypt, is over.