Just What Constitutes Luxury Cruising These Days?
Most people have an image of luxury travel- five star hotels, epicurean food, impeccable service, and always that intangible sense of exclusivity, far beyond the norm.
Put that imagery afloat, and it becomes distilled down to very specific elements.
The ship has to be special, with the highest caliber crew to be found. Big or small (and most tend to be smaller), the ‘passenger space ratio’, or amount of space per guest, must be high. The passenger to crew ratio, by definition, must be low. The appointments must be top notch throughout. The public rooms must be enticing and not garish, the staterooms, or better, the suites, must have the best mattresses and furniture, more than adequate storage, an inviting bathroom with elegant fixtures, fluffy towels, deluxe toiletries. Its capabilities- to travel to remote areas, perhaps an ice-hardened hull, and itineraries that match those capabilities, really do set luxury ships apart from the ordinary.
The way you are treated onboard is paramount. People want excellence, but not stuffy formality, though they may well want to dress up for dinner. Butlers throughout have become a hallmark on at least one cruise line. Anticipating your every need, just before you were even thinking of it, provides the assurance that one can truly relax, knowing you will be well looked after at all times. No lineups to embark or disembark, or at a buffet.
The food HAS to be superlative. Almost all cruise ship fare is pretty good- dining is pretty much the drawing card across the whole industry, but aboard a luxury ship, it must be much better than that. Drinks tend to be included, though not universally, and the labels are expected to be premium brands. In fact, inclusions are big selling point, so you don’t get a bar bill or worry about gratuities or even transportation into town at every port. Some lines offer free computer labs or music lessons, others include many or all shore excursions.
The onboard facilities, whether the fitness area, the pool and spa, the lounges and bars, the observation decks should be a delight to the senses- again, to simply invite you to partake and relax.
The programs, and this usually means guest speakers, or themes such as food and wine, or golf, or photography and bird watching, must be high caliber, with small groups and genuinely knowledgeable personnel. The shore experiences must mirror the quality aboard. The ability to ‘read’ the clientele interests, to not impose formula, canned activities, or any regimentation- ie to respect that the guests are generally intelligent, well travelled, discerning, curious, and well healed, again distinguishes the first rate from the not-so-great.
Finally, the itineraries. There is little sense in booking a luxury cruise and ending up docked in a port overrun with large mass-market megaships, and find the main attraction to be generic trinket shops. So luxury has come to be synonymous with ‘off-the-beaten-path’, or at least small harbours, and though there continue to be luxury cruises to the caribbean, names such as Nevis, Gustavia, Barbuda or St. Kitts pop up on the itineraries more than the better known stops of the U.S. Virgin islands or St. Maarten.
For every ‘rule’ there is an exception, and certainly there is luxury to be found aboard ships that are not generally branded as luxury, and stops in big draw ports. There can be Broadway or Las Vegas type entertainment and casinos, and often these pale in comparison to that found on the main stream market ships. Sometimes, absence of something is a hallmark; you won’t find climbing walls or waterslides aboard the luxury product. As well, some luxury ships AREN’T new and spacious, but have a classic ambience.
Next- an overview of luxury cruise lines.
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