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It's no secret that American Queen Voyages has been sailing U.S. rivers for years. But what makes this particular itinerary special is that it will be the line's longest ever. The 23-day cruises, which include travel on both the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, will be offered on the line's newest ship, the 245-passenger American Countess.
Cruises
That, for example, could already change lanes for you without the system deactivating; these days, it can automatically do so if you find yourself stuck behind slower traffic. GM's system can also be used in towing situations, and the automaker boasts more than 200,000 miles of compatible roads. Both Ford and GM are working on versions of their tech that can do unsupervised Level 3 highway driving, though for the moment that's still beyond either Super Cruise or BlueCruise. Thanks to the sheer breadth of available data, the system can be simulated in various situations, with modifiers like traffic types, trip length, geographic location, and more.
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The new version will allow BlueCruise to stay engaged while vehicles round tighter bends than before, and will also position a vehicle more precisely in narrower lanes, reports TechCrunch. Later this season, BlueCruise 1.3 will also be delivered to 2021 to 2023 Mach-E’s already on the road thanks to a Ford Power-Up over-the-air software update. It hasn’t been confirmed, but existing F-150 Lighting pickup trucks will almost certainly receive the same enhancement at some point, hopefully sooner than later.
The 6 best 2023 cruise itineraries to book right now
Ford makes it easier to opt in or out of hands-free driving - Hagerty Media
Ford makes it easier to opt in or out of hands-free driving.
Posted: Tue, 15 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The line will offer four different itineraries, but my favorite is the 10-day Persian Gulf option from Dubai to Muscat, Oman, which includes calls on places like Ras Al-Khaimah and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and Khasab, Oman. The ship will also visit the UAE's island of Sir Bani Yas, which is known for nature and wildlife conservation. Silversea’s new cruise ship, Silver Nova, is the first of the cruise line’s Nova class and, as such, comes with a lot of “firsts” for the line in general. This new cruise ship features an LNG power system that reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20%. Its advanced onboard wastewater treatment system ensures that no water leaves the ship without undergoing strict treatments that reduce pollution and harm to local ecosystems.
Just a few short months later, Ford is already getting ready for the next major BlueCruise update, and some lucky drivers will get to experience it for free. The ship will offer 75 GRT per passenger, making it one of the most spacious cruise ships in the world in terms of space afforded to each passenger. The team started by looking at data from vehicles in the field, and Ford’s software engineers tried to tackle moments when BlueCruise asks the driver to take over driving duties. By focusing on those moments, Ford can allow drivers to spend more times with their hands off the wheel. Omari said that BlueCruise 1.3 is three times better than 1.2, and five times better than 1.0 in terms of driver interventions.
A little more breathing room in the lane
Nonetheless, highway driving is a chore, and I undoubtedly feel more comfortable at the end of it with a system like BlueCruise to support me. The challenge — as with most advanced driver assistance — is ensuring attention without nagging so aggressively that it's not worth having the tech turned on. Back in 2022, Ford released its proprietary hands-free highway driving software, BlueCruise. While BlueCruise can't completely take over the highway driving experience from the actual driver, its sensibly-designed systems can handle the brunt of some of its more mindless tasks. Earlier this year, BlueCruise was refined further with the release of its version 1.2 update, but Ford hasn't been resting on its laurels since then.
Icon of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)
His team looks at those interventions on a daily basis, grouped by factors like geography, vehicle, and road type. By focusing on those moments, Ford engineers have massively expanded the operating window of its most sophisticated advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), allowing more drivers to spend more time with hands off the wheel. As part of a mission to introduce minor updates more frequently, Ford will release BlueCruise 1.3 this summer. Rather than adding new features, the update to the Level 2 advanced driver assistance seeks to reduce the number of times that drivers must take over while using it. Other planned features include more than 27,000 square feet of outdoor deck space, four pools and nine restaurants. Like many of the cruise ships we’re looking forward to in 2023, Explora I pays close attention to new cruising technology and eco-friendly designs.
Canal cruises in Amsterdam
The ship will offer all-balcony staterooms across five categories, two pools, a handful of dining venues and a handful of entertainment venues. Despite all the hype around autonomous driving, the reality is that we're still a long way from cars that can operate themselves completely. Tap the turn signal — you don't have to press it all the way, and if you do, it won't auto-cancel once the lane change maneuver is complete — and a "Preparing lane change" message appears. A second or two later, assuming there's nothing in the adjacent lane, and BlueCruise moves across. Another graphic showing the direction of the maneuver appears while that's happening. From behind the wheel of a 2023 Mustang Mach-E Select, though, I'd say it's worth the wait.
Aside from over-the-air software updates, your Mach-E may already have BlueCruise 1.3 right from the factory. What’s interesting is how quickly Ford is advancing its BlueCruise technology. The laudable 1.2 version of this system was scheduled to start rolling out to existing Mustang Mach-E customers this summer, though the automaker appears to be superseding this version before it even gets pushed out. BlueCruise 1.2 brings some welcome enhancements to the table, including automatic lane change capability and improved lane-centering. Super Cruise, GM’s competing hands-free driving aid, has much less trouble with curves. Depending on the vehicle, Super Cruise allows you to tow trailers hands-free as well.
Since the release of BlueCruise 1.2, Ford engineers have been working on the next iteration of the system, looking to improve its performance and consistency. According to Sammy Omari, pre-release testing of the updated system has produced good results. That functionality will require not only new levels of hardware to enable, but also a more refined, more thoroughly integrated software stack, too. “It’s basically understanding where our customers largely [are] using the vehicles, and then expanding in those areas,” he said. Perhaps in a nod to Doug Field, Ford’s chief advanced product development and technology officer, hired from Apple in 2022, Omari says that Ford is also looking to Cupertino for inspiration.
There’s a lot to look forward to in 2023, with new cruise ships coming from all your favorite cruise lines, from Virgin to Viking, Celebrity to Carnival. If you’re a frequent cruiser, chances are likely that you keep a close eye on all the new cruise ships set to hit the high seas in the coming years. After all, you want to be one of the first of your traveling friends to check out all the latest and greatest in cruising, as soon as it’s available to the public. There are no fully-autonomous cars on sale today, but that's not to say you're completely on your own when it comes to driver assistance on a road trip. Advanced Level 2 systems like Ford BlueCruise can't take responsibility away from the person behind the wheel, but they can let them take their hands off that control.
For an options package on a near-future Ford consumer vehicle, affordability will be key. “If you opt in, you share data every time, for example, during hands-free you take over and you control the vehicle yourself, or if the vehicle kicks you out and says ‘Please take over again,'” Omari said. “Going from a quarterly release to a weekly release is obviously a lot of tooling, and also a lot of mindset changes,” Omari said. Today, Ford’s focus is less on gathering requirements and more about addressing customer feedback.
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