
The race track aboard the Norwegian Bliss. Source: Norwegian Cruise Line As part of a weekly Grand Prix tournament hosted on the Norwegian Bliss, cruisers will get to put pedal to the medal on a fleet of electric go-karts manufactured by RiMo Germany GmbH. Special eco-friendly speakers attached to the cars' accelerators mimic the sound of a real engine, so you get a visceral experience without causing noise pollution as you whirl past Alaska's glaciers. As for the track itself, it’s about 1,000-feet per lap on decks 18 and 19, making it 40 percent larger than the pilot version installed on the China-bound Norwegian Joy earlier this year. Surreal Underwater Lounges

Trippy or incredible? The underwater lounge aboard Ponant’s new yachts. Source: Ponant Channel your inner Jules Verne at Blue Eye, the world's first underwater lounge to be built into the hull of a cruise ship. It debuts next summer on Ponant Co.'s new Mediterranean-faring yachts, Le Laperouse and Le Champlain. The defining visual feature? Two large, eye-shaped portholes to get you up-close and personal with sea creatures. Dramatic as they are, the views may play second fiddle to the space’s high-tech bells and whistles. The entire room is meant to bring the outdoors in, with large screens broadcasting live images from three underwater cameras while a hydrophone captures the actual sounds of the ocean. A warning for the seasick-prone: even the furniture is tricked out to vibrate (lightly!) in sync with the sounds. Friendly Infrared Competition

You’ve likely never played laser tag on the high seas. Now you can. Photographer: RichLegg

A look at the Magic Carpet on the Celebrity Edge. Source: Celebrity Cruises Brush up on your Aladdin karaoke skills—they’ll feel totally appropriate aboard the 2,908-passenger Celebrity Edge, which debuts in the Caribbean late next year. Why? One of its decks is being dubbed the “Magic Carpet" since it seemingly hovers over the edge of the ship and moves up and down like a giant, open-air elevator. At varying points during the day, it’ll transform into a specialty restaurant, an extension of the pool area, an al fresco cocktail lounge, and a luxury embarkation station for the ship’s sleek tenders. A whole new world, indeed. A Fun Slide in Your Suite

A duplex suite with a fun slide on Symphony of the Seas. Source: Royal Caribbean On Symphony of the Seas, Royal makes a pitch to wealthy families by packing a duplex suite with unconventional amusements, including a covered slide connecting the two floors, a full-height Lego wall, an air hockey table, and a video-game corner with a popcorn machine. There’s also a private deck with a whirlpool big enough for the whole family—and 24/7 butler service. What it’ll cost you: about $40,000 a week for a family of up to eight, in low season. Deep-Sea Drones

This drone doesn’t fly—it dives. Source: Hurtigruten Norway-based cruise line Hurtigruten AS has teamed up with Silicon Valley’s BluEye Robotics to introduce 15-pound diving drones on expedition ships, including the hybrid-powered, 530-passenger MS Roald Amundsen that debuts in Antarctica next October. The drones can dive down to 150 meters in waters that are often too cold for human plunges—and are equipped with four thrusters and a wide-angle video camera adapted for low-light conditions. All that content gets streamed in real-time to screens around the ship (even to your personal devices), so you can virtually join a pod of whales while sipping a martini or lying in bed. Helicopters and Submarines

The Scenic Eclipse sails Antarctica. Source: Scenic There's a reason why Australian river cruising company Scenic is calling its debut oceangoing vessel a "Discovery Yacht." Intrepid travelers on the luxurious, all-suite, 228-passenger Scenic Eclipse—which launches in the Mediterranean in August—will be able to explore their surroundings in all sorts of unconventional ways: surveying Italy's active volcanoes by helicopter and the icy Arctic Ocean via private submarine. These are features you’d expect on the mega-yachts of the rich and famous—not a casual vacation that starts at around $5,000 per person per week. Driverless Vans

Driverless shuttles transfer guests to the Brooklyn Navy Yard during a media preview event. Photographer: Diane Bondareff/Invision for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd./AP Images If you thought Google Inc. and Uber Inc. were leading the autonomous vehicle race, you overlooked a contender: Royal Caribbean International. The company is working with French company Navya SAS to launch Arma, a fully autonomous shuttle service, in "a lot of destinations" to move cruise passengers and crew more efficiently around ports. The self-driving, climate-controlled electric shuttles being tested can carry up to 15 people; they’re expected to be up and running in select ports before 2018 ends.