John and Linda Mercer of Houston had sailed on several large cruise ships and had tired of their size and constantly having to sign chits for whatever they ordered. With their two daughters both in college, the couple decided last year to try a smaller, more luxurious ship, Silversea Cruise’s Prince Albert.
Unlike mainstream cruise ships, fares on true luxury ships like Silversea’s include gratuities and all beverages (including alcohol), and provide a high level of service. Most carry far fewer passengers than mainstream ships and impart a far more intimate cruise experience.
“Let’s see if this makes a difference,” Linda said. It did.
They liked paying for everything up front, not as they went. They liked the staff and the service, the more elegant quarters and amenities, the more relaxed cruise experience, the comfort of enjoying a cruise without constant interruptions, the fact that smaller ships can go where large ones can’t. “It turned out be a pretty good deal,” said Linda.
So good, in fact, that the Mercers sailed recently on another luxury liner, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, and have booked another cruise on a Silversea ship.
The Mercers are among many cruisers who in recent years have opted to cruise on upscale ships. Luxury ships have become attainable for more vacationers — in large part because the recession has forced these ships to discount fares by as much as 65 percent. At the same time, a number of new luxury ships have come on the market, adding more berths that need to be filled.
People who never thought they could sail on a luxury ship now find them within reach. Before the recession, luxury fares reached as high as $1,000 a day. But the discounting since has dropped some fares by half or more, even in a few cases to as low as $200 a day.
Even though their prices still are higher than on mainstream lines, passengers say luxury ships are worth it.
“The food’s superior, they are more personal and you’re not being nickel-and-dimed all the time,” said Marty Krebs of Junction City, Wisc., who with his wife Jan also has cruised on many lines.
Luxury cruise lines measure passenger satisfaction through post-sailing surveys, and Mark Conroy, president and CEO of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, says , “Ninety-seven percent of our passengers say they will sail again with us.”
Not only have luxury cruise lines discounted fares, many also offer hundreds of dollars worth of onboard spending credits, free air and other amenities that reduce the total cost of a cruise. Rather than making really drastic fare cuts, Regent, for instance, decided to make all shore excursions costing less than $200 free — a move that has paid off well for the line.
Then, too, the luxury lines have added a number of new ships to their fleets. Seabourn has introduced three brand new ships in the past three years, Silversea one and Oceania one with another coming out in April. These ships are not only new, they’re larger, which means more cabins to fill.
Most luxury ships are smaller than the big mainstream vessels, creating a more intimate cruise experience for its passengers. They often visit ports that the large mainstream ships can’t get into, and they range worldwide.
Silversea ships, for instance, can dock on the Neva River in the center of town in St. Petersburg, Russia, while the larger ships have to stay miles out, said the line’s Brad Ball. And unlike large ships, they also can tie up close to downtown in both Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City.
Says Krebs, who prefers smaller ships and says their itineraries are important in choosing their cruises: “We get to different places, have extended stops [in ports of call] and experience more.”
Perhaps more important for the future, luxury lines that used to cater only to retirees 60 or older are now wooing younger passengers. Seabourn, for example, has made a concerted effort to attract younger guests by offering more water sports activities and adventure excursions. It also has scheduled more seven-night cruises to accommodate younger guests who are still working and can’t go on extended cruises.
Beyond that, Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, an independent online magazine, sees a new category of upscale cruising arising — islands of luxury aboard otherwise mainstream vessels. “Cruise lines are adding more suites on mass market ships,” she said, citing as one example Norwegian Cruise Line’s The Haven, a complex of luxury accommodations on several ships. On the Norwegian Epic, The Haven has 60 suites on two private decks with exclusive access to a pool, gym, saunas, sun deck, a restaurant and lounge; fares for this level start at $2,599 per person for seven-night cruises out of Miami.
Every large ship, though, has top-end accommodations, some of them quite extravagant. All three Cunard “Queen” ships offer top-end accommodations as well as mainstream and restrict some restaurants and lounges only to suite and penthouse occupants. Mainstream lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Celebrity and Princess all have owner’s suites, penthouses and other high-end accommodations and facilities, including some with concierge and butler services and/or exclusive lounges, deck areas or special spa access.
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