Gigantic Cruise Ships
I recently read an article about the trend of building bigger and bigger mega cruise ships in the November issue of Smart Money (yea I know, I’m behind). You can read “Cruise Ships on Steroids” here. The article discusses the recent trend of new HUGE cruise ships, with each new amenity crazier than the last.
One issue the article hits on is that this idea doesn’t seem to fit in very well with the current slow economy. But of course, there was no recession when these cruise ships were ordered several years back. It’s almost like the cruise lines are stuck with these mega ships now, like someone stuck living in a home that made sense for old circumstances long after those circumstances changed. Revenue is expected to drop 14-16% and cruise lines are currently cutting fares on average of 20% according to the article. So will these mega ships help entice passengers, or will the costs be too great?
I’ve been on 3 cruises but I’m not sure I consider myself a typical cruiser (if there is such a thing). I enjoy cruising because it’s a very economical way to take a trip, because you get to see lots of different places, and because you don’t have to worry about packing and unpacking at each destination. To me, the cruise ship amenities are a much lower priority than crucial factors like ports visited and duration on shore. I do enjoy the nice dinners, but the standard dining room and buffet fare is good enough for me. I don’t ever visit the restaurants that cost extra and begrudge having to pay for cocktails.
Traditional cruisers that enjoy every amenity the ships have to offer will surely be impressed with the ice skating rinks, wave machines, ziplines, and Cirque du Soleil shows. These new ideas are really cool considering it’s all found on a ship, and it would definitely be interesting to partake in those new activities. The problem is, in order to offset the costs and combat the recession, the cruise lines are continuing to tack on the fees for these extra amenities.
The last cruise I took was a Norwegian ship, which advertise their Freestyle Cruising like crazy. They play up how great it is to have all these different restaurant choices instead of assigned seating in the main dining room. The problem was, each and every one of the Freestyle restaurants cost extra. So basically we ate in the main restaurants every day anyway, and felt like the best food and service was reserved for the passengers paying extra. We also noticed that several areas advertised in ship photos were restricted to passengers in suites. We really felt “nickel and dimed” on this cruise line.
If this is the direction these cruise ships are heading – nickel and diming the passengers for all the fun stuff – I think they will end up alienating lots of customers. One of the biggest appeals of a cruise ship is the cheap initial price and that once onboard, almost everything is included. Charging for each and every amenity adds a hassle that many people just don’t want to deal with.
It will be interesting to see if this “let’s see what sorts of ridiculous things we can pack on a cruise ship” trend continues. It really doesn’t seem very “recession friendly” and certainly not very green. It makes me wonder how many people actually select a cruise because it has an Ice Bar.