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Cruising and the cruise industry
Just had the privilege of sailing with Travel Agents on two of the most advanced ships in the industry.....great fun, everything is free and the companies are proudly presenting the latest innovations to the vacation experience.
We were on the Celebrity Eclipse for two nights, a 122,000 ton beauty that carries almost 3000 passengers. The ship is about as elegant as you can get with the traditional design of all of the main functions on two decks, with a huge pool deck on top of the ship. Note the Solstice class ships have a lawn, yes grass as part of the sunbathing area......Celebrity ships aim at the top of the middle class market, with butler service, formal nights and tasteful events [no belly flop contests!].....if you like the nicer things in life [like our readers] this is the cruise for you.....
I then joined Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas for a two nighter, 225,000 tons, 5400+ passengers.....however the ship is so spacious it doesn't feel crowded at all.....but a spoiler alert - I was on the design team for this ship and put a lot of hours and energy into the details of this amazing vessel so I'm biased, but still hopefully objective. The entertainment is incredible - the featured show is "Chicago" the musical, the ice show on the ships skating rink is excellent, didn't see the Aqua show but the one on the Oasis [sister ship] is fun. RCCL has made a ship so spectacular it is literally jaw dropping. If you have a group of friends, or a multigenerational family group this is the ship for you.... there is something for everyone......
It was really interesting to go back after three years on my own, and there are three strong trends I can see have developed.....
A - Choosing a cruise is like buying a car.....the advertised price [say $799] is for the basic model with manual transmission - what you will end up paying is a lot more than that if you want something better....and you always do. And should. Don't get sticker shock - build it in to your budget.
The big change in the last few years and best value of a cruise is the alternative dining facilities - $30 per person for some world class restaurants - we ate in Qsine on the Eclipse, which had the menus on an I-Pad, and served you small portions of a huge range of food in fun and innovative ways.....an example was a meze of Middle Eastern dishes served in a small open sided bookcase-like rack that sat in the middle of the table. Very cool.
On the Allure I ate in a fabulous Brazilian restaurant, with the meat on the swords etc, as good as anything in Miami....and an Asian venue that had some of the best sushi rolls ever...but if you go there get the grill special.....amazing.
So my advice if you are interested in a cruise is 1/ go for a balcony, it's worth it.....2/ eat in all of the premium restaurants at least once even if you don't make it to the main dining room.....3/ remember everything worth having is extra - cruise lines have been very ingenious in coming up with tempting items you pay for......I know this because this was my job!!! But buy them anyway - you just need to remember the $799 is the start...with drinks, excursions, a bit of shopping, meals and a flutter at the tables you can easily double or triple this.....factor it in.....and it's still excellent value.....
B - The port experience. This is the part cruise lines don't really mention in too much detail - naturally - the standard Eastern/Western Caribbean ports are horrible. Being in Cozumel, or St. Thomas, or Grand Cayman, or St. Maarten with [sometimes up to] 8 huge ships is a nightmarish experience. All of the ports are so commercialised it's like being in Daytona Beach on bike week, trying to shop.....truly awful.
It isn't much better in Europe - Mary and I were in Santorini in Greece with two big ships at anchor, and the beautiful little town was overwhelmed with tourists....these charming ports can't take 8000 visitors. How do you get around this? Look closely at the Shore Excursions and take one that goes in a van, not a bus, or just accept the fact if you get off the ship it will be really crowded - get off late, by then some of the passengers will be returning to the ship.
Another tip is to rent a car and get out of the port.....research where to go online and all of these ports have car rentals. Another strategy is that most cruise passengers go back to the ship for lunch so if you find a local restaurant about 1.30ish you can have a pleasant time ashore.
If you know what to expect you will have a better time....there are quite a few experienced cruisers who don't get off the ships in port...
C/ The competition for the high end passenger. Both the Eclipse and the Allure had about 20% of their cabins as mini-suites, suites and above, as do all other cruise lines, and filling these cabins at good rates is a real issue in this economy. Everyone who is doing well enough to consider $5000 and up for a premium suite may well settle for a normal cabin. The trend in the cruise industry [without making a big deal of it] is to create a two-tier ship - first class, and the rest. Interesting isn't it - America is becoming a two level society with the top 5% holding an astonishing 65% of the wealth, so cruise lines are following these trends and creating a two class ship, with special privileges like concierges for anyone booking the high end cabins.....
But there are smaller luxury cruise lines like Seabourn, Oceania and SeaDream going to interesting ports also attracting the $5000+ passenger, who may not want to go to St. Thomas with all of the hoi polloi......so it's bloodbath out there to try to attract the affluent passenger.....
What's next in the cruise industry? Eventually someone is going to do the "mother ship" concept, which is to build a monster that sails from South Florida to just off St. Thomas, anchors for three days and runs high speed tenders to five or six ports that are within an hour for excursions....., then two sea days back with 10,000 of your closest friends....won't that be fun! Everything on the ship stays open as the ship is in International waters, so it gets to be quite profitable for whomever has the cojones to build one of these....
For those of you DDD readers in the cruise industry I'm sure this was interesting, but for anyone thinking of a cruise I hope I've given you a strategy to get the best value from the experience.....
David
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