Cruise Lines Adopt Class System

Posted by Barbara Rogers Oct 12, 2007

The Italian-owned MSC Cruises calls it La Dolce Vita. Norwegian Cruise Line calls them Garden and Courtyard Villas, and refers to the top two private decks reserved only for the villa passengers as a "ship within a ship."

Whatever they call it, it’s the same – a return to the out-dated class system of the days when trans-Atlantic travelers were divided by class. The rules are the same: pay more for first class and have access to the whole ship. Pay less and be barred from deluxe “exclusive” decks and their upscale facilities.

Will passengers pay for the higher-priced decks? Almost certainly yes, because some people love the feeling of having access to things that the lesser folk can’t get. But the revolt may come from those who don’t wish to sail on a ship where they are excluded from entire decks. Those passengers still have plenty of other choices on other cruise lines.

And I’ll be with them. It’s not the same as paying extra for increased legroom and a better chance at a night’s sleep on an overnight flight. And it’s not the same as paying extra for the hotel club level’s business services, meeting space and in-room internet access.

A cruise is a vacation, not a business trip, and it’s a social activity as much as travel. And in that context there is no place for the old class system. There are plenty of high-priced luxury lines available to those who want to pay their way out of encountering passengers who don’t chose to pay for exclusivity. Let them sail those – or let them sail in their “ship within a ship” while the rest of the cabins on other decks go empty.

And then see how long this class system survives.