How is an ultra luxury cruise line different than a regular cruise line? If you guessed price guess again.
I was recently getting ready to go on an ultra-luxury cruise and I thought I would be bathing in luxury once onboard and would never be able to experience anything like this on a regular cruise.
Maybe I was wrong, maybe I was right?
Let’s find out.
The day I left on my ultra luxury cruise something dawned on me, it would have cost me about the same amount of money once I included the onboard costs, and excursions to cruise and stay in the premium suites for a cruise in the Caribbean on lines like Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Celebrity.
I figured out that the total cost to cruise on an ultra luxury line like Seven Seas, Seabourn, Windstar, and Silversea would have come out to be about the same as a premium big ship cruise line between $1,200 to $1,500 per cabin per night.
So my biggest question was, how is an ultra-luxury line going to be different from those regular cruise lines if the cost is the same?
Here’s what I found out.
The luxury ship had the same facilities as any other premium cruise ship, albeit on a smaller scale. Both types of ships have a pool, hot tubs, bars, lounges, main dining rooms, specialty dining room, spa fitness center, theater, shops, and more.
They both go to the same places, and the same ports of call most of the time.
I discovered that my fellow passengers wanted excellent food and drink, onshore excursions, onboard activities, deck games, cooking demonstrations, karaoke, and the like on both types of cruises.
They also wanted a captain’s welcome party, deck parties, live music, and they wanted to meet people. They wanted to shop and spend their onboard credit. They also wanted to get a good deal by booking their next cruise on board. In fact, they were so alike that I even saw chair hogs around the pool and bad manners in the theater.
There is the usual mix of passengers on both types of ships; lots of couples, a good number of solo travelers, friends traveling together, multi generational families, and same sex couples. The dress code had about the same level as compliance as all those other regular cruise lines.
The average age on my ultra-luxury cruise was the same maybe even a bit older than the regular cruise lines like Holland America, Royal Caribbean, and Princess. Of course the ultra-luxury cruise lines don’t have quite the party scene found on larger ships. And also the perceived cost of a luxury cruise is going to keep some people out. I was in a bit of a shock because I expected the luxury cruise to somehow be different to the other cruise lines.
So I started thinking if it’s not the passengers that are the big difference what is it then?
The simple answer was, my bill at the end of my ultra luxury cruise was ZERO. All costs are inclusive within the fare.
When I booked my luxury cruise I knew the exact cost of my cruise before we left port. Even the excursions are included as are gratuities, specialty dining, Wi Fi, and all the drinks. The second difference was having a much smaller cabin for the same price. For example, the cruise I did before this one was on Holland America in a premium suite. That was a huge suite at 502 square feet, with seating area bedroom master bathroom and a huge balcony. That was the best part of that cruise.
On my ultra luxury cruise aboard Windstar Plus the cabin was over a third smaller and more like a veranda cabin or a mini suite. Not only was the cabin smaller, but the experience was smaller too. It’s a small ship experience. And I cannot under estimate the importance of this. At 342 passengers the Windstar Plus is flat out more cozy, easier on the environment, and local population when the ship calls port. A smaller ship means way less choice of venues and of course much fewer facilities. Plus the smaller the ship the shallower the draft, so the ship can get much more closer to land to view all the beauty an island has to offer.
If you go on Celebrity Beyond you’ll have a choice of 11 bars, 32 food and beverage venues, and the theater shows with glitzy productions have full Broadway shows, high energy acrobatic shows or even dance company shows with big audio, and visual effects. Celebrity Beyond has many pools, running tracks, ziplines, climbing walls, and more the list goes on! The Beyond is truly a floating resort.
On the Windstar Breeze cruise you’ll find way less evening entertainment. Usually a band or two or a solo musician playing in the bar. It’s just a more chill atmosphere. It also has a smaller daily program with fewer things going on. There is usually a trivia game or other daily events, maybe a nature talk and on port days often no activities when the excursions were out and about.
There was one big aha moment on my ultra luxury Windstar Cruise it was when the crew by the second day was calling me by name. Something is magical and connecting when someone remembers your name.
Small cruise lines often have a high crew to guest ratio and the attention to personalized service is evident when a crew member has the time to stop and talk with the guest. A relationship builds, and the guest feels as if the are part of the voyage not just a person on a cruise. This to me is why ultra luxury cruising is so much more than cruising on a big cruise line with 4,000 other people.
Another huge difference I experienced on Windstar and an undisputed advantage is the food. Food is great on most cruise lines, but definitely on Windstar. I counted over 50 items on the main dining room breakfast menu including caviar on some days. The evening menus were vast with a page of menu items, a page of daily specials, and a separate standalone dessert menu all high quality and sophisticated dishes. When they did an on-deck barbecue it made even the great ones that I’ve done on some other ships look frugal.
The cooks remembered that I liked skim milk in my decaf coffee, non alcoholic beer, and the carving chef even remembered I like the end cut of the prime rib!
The other big plus is excursions. Windstar does small group excursions and I find this a nice experience. There is nevermore than 20 people on an excursion.
Windstar has more crew per passenger than on any other cruise line. This means the crew has much more time to stop and talk and interact. For example Adi the server in the main dining room was interested in cameras and photography.
She saw that I had my camera and gear with me, so she was able though to stop talk chat to me about cameras and photography because she had fewer tables to serve. She had the time and kindness to build a relationship.
The officers were also visibly engaging, they interact with guests more than I’ve seen on those regular cruise lines.
It’s hard to describe, but I almost felt the ship’s crew was geared toward taking care of me, and that I was the focus of every department. Of course, that was not at all true because they’re taking care of the other guests as well.
It occurred to me when spending this amount of money on a cruise I needed to focus on the best experience for me.
Now my traveling partner would prefer to spend money on a bigger cabin, have a choice of variety of bars and restaurants, stay busy with activities, and go to big theater shows which is cool too.
For me it’s the smaller, more intimate the more exclusive environment where it’s more about the food, the service and the interactions.
I must admit that going to the Caribbean on Windstar was a little dull at times in the evenings. The nightlife on a Norwegian cruise ship would have been so much more active with much more stuff going on.
So now you know spending the same amount of money for a luxury vacation is all about choice.
If you are looking for a large variety of activities, the big scale shows and entertainment, multiple choices of dining and drinking venues, more kids and families there are plenty of choices of cruise lines. I recommend the premium cruise lines for this type cruise. Norwegian, Virgin, and Celebrity are my top picks.
If you’re looking for a more intimate experience, more in-depth conversations with crew and fellow passengers, more interesting and smaller group onshore excursions with less of a party scene at night then an ultra-luxury cruise will be perfect for you. My top picks are Windstar, Silversea, Seabourn, and Paul Gauguin Cruises.
Do you have any questions about choosing the right cruise or destination? I’m your guy just let me know how I can help.
