You’ve woken early on MSC Bellissima – the cruise ship is sailing off the coast of Naples – and you can’t recall which of the ship’s 12 dining venues serves your favourite breakfast of smashed avocado and poached eggs.

Who are you going to call? You’re hungry and need to get moving.

Luckily, ZOE has all the answers – or most of them. To be fair, she’s learning as she goes along.

ZOE is a voice-enabled personal assistant – a bit like Apple’s Siri – found in every Bellissima cabin. She can perform a variety of jobs, including reserving restaurants and excursions and checking bills – in any one of seven languages.

ZOE has been programmed to keep learning with every interaction, and if she didn’t immediately know which of the ship’s dining spots served smashed avocado and poached eggs, she will next time.

Ok, ZOE, here’s what we can tell you about the surge in high tech on the high seas as the cruise industry leaves the pandemic in its wake while passengers begin to fill ships again in record numbers.

The pandemic gave the cruise industry precious time and space to move away from old technology, which largely focused on mobile phone apps, whose connectivity at sea was sporadic and whose acceptance by privacy-protective passengers was guarded.

Cruise companies have taken up the challenge and are restoring trust in safety protocols from the moment a…