Arthur's Blog: Are Cruiselines Exposing Crowded Conditions that Crimp Enjoyment of a Cruise by Selling Special Privileges

Last week, Carnival Cruises announced a price of $49 for enjoying special privileges aboard its cruises: the right to board the ship ahead of other passengers, to have your luggage placed in cabins right away, to obtain your table assignment in the main dining room before other passengers get their own, and to enjoy the right to board lighters taking passengers to shore in the course of port stops. Forty-nine dollars will win these rights, avoiding the delays and lines that are frequently encountered on ships carrying thousands of passengers.
Is it possible that by publicizing the advantage of paying another $49 to obtain such privileges, that the cruiselines (because other companies will obviously copy Carnival's initiative) are inadvertently publicizing the problems that some cruise passengers encounter?
At the very least, the new $49 package will accelerate the trend toward re-introducing different classes of cruise passengers. Already, on some ships, the passengers booking deluxe cabins are often given their own exclusive deck areas, and sometimes given the exclusive use of whole decks, are granted other perks delivered to them by the equivalent of butlers assigned for their comfort. The $49 adds another layer of privilege -- and of difference. Let's hope that free-spending passengers are not given the right to enter lifeboats ahead of all other people in the event of emergencies (62% of all first class passengers on the Titanic survived the tragedy, while 75% of all third class steerage passengers perished.)
The Carnival announcement also reminds me of the increasing tendency of cruiseships to impose extra charges for services and products: extra charges for hard and soft drinks, extra charges to eat in upscale dining rooms, extra charges for certain spa facilities or treatments. Already, some observers are claiming that the average all-inclusive hotel is far less expensive than cruises of the same duration. Most prominently, guests at all-inclusive hotels receive unlimited drinks, are not expected to pay gratuities, receive other privileges free of any extra charge. I would suggest that cruiseline executives might want to be cautious about continuing to add these often-unexpected extra charges, at the risk of discouraging the growth of cruising. Too many cruise passengers believe they are constantly being nickle-and-dimed, and unpleasantly so. The growing refusal to buy port excursions sold by the cruiselines may be evidence that the public is digging in their heels.
In the meantime, I for one would not buy Carnival's $49 package of perks.