I wonder if they'd consider waiving the room service charge as a perk for high status loyalty members and suite guests. Seems like they would be able to satisfy those who have been cruising long enough to remember "the good old days" and newer cruisers who might not expect an all inclusive vacation on a mass market cruise line.

Also, to be fair as a cruiser who tends to go through at least a book a day, I see a lot more cruisers attending "Facebook tips and tricks" style classes than using the library. A lot of people bring kindles or tablets with adjustable font sizes. It'd be nice to be borrow a physical book but it also makes sense to deploy a digital library similar to airlines and let people use their own devices via the ship's local wifi.

I don't think the cruisecos are looking to eliminate every passenger comfort, but just looking at any potential to increase revenue (in mgmt's relentless quest to grow earnngs), so any "dead" space is now converted. I think there are still sobriety/abstinence and religious services but those are unhosted and self-led and certainly the personnel that did some of the above (dance host, etc. - even if unpaid) and gone.. They'll probably provide a venue until the available venues have been turned into revenue-generating functions. Certainly there are no card rooms left which is why you have people occupying any sit-down space with tables available.

As for suite privileges,this will make life more difficult for those not in suites. The new Celebrity Edge reportedly has no forward-looking spaces - inside or out - for non-suite pax. Great swarths of open deck (and there's only so much of this no matter how big the ship) are increasingly reserved for suite pax (the Celebrity Millennium is schedule to have all deck space forward of the pool to be converted into such). It's only a matter of time before non-suite pax are crammed into small spaces of deck in a partial reversion to steerage.

In ranles's post above re: suite privileges, Holland America was recently trialing selling suites privileges to non-suite passengers. Prioirity disembarkation and suite dining privileges for one.

Maybe the younger clientele who are new to cruises will tolerate this, as you speculate, or maybe not.

It certainly appears cruise ships are reverting to what trans-atlantic crossings once were. Cunard Line and French Line, 2 classes first and tourist. Italian Line, 3 classes, first, cabin, and tourist. Celebrity for e.g. is now just like Italian Line once was with (1) Luminae for suite passengers, Blu for Aqua class, and main dining room for everyone else.

Cruising has morphed into something I no longer recognize. After 137 of them taken since 1971, I've had enough. Just rather stay home and sit in my house!

Cruise companies exist for one reason alone and that is to extract the maximum amount of money from you that they can. If they can't do it on the initial fare they will do it to you in every possible other way.

I think the public wants a modicum of service and comfort, and that is only achievable by "buying up," either to a suite on a ship or a J/F cabin on a plane. For those who can't afford these classes, they either purchase an "amenity package," such as Club Orange or -- in the UA ecosystem, an Economy Plus subscription. The travel providers need to brand their offerings so the public can ask for them, hence the class distinctions.

Only skimmed the thread so please correct me.
But as mentioned in the thread, I have to agree with the analysis that the industry is increasing capacity and trying to fill those berths by attracting customers with low base fares but at the trade-off of nickle and diming previously free amenities/perks/services. And if you want the previous experience, you're needing to purchase a higher end category or cruise on a higher end line. However, as they push people towards that choice, they will likely be correspondingly higher expectations by people buck up for the higher end cabins.
And for better or worse, we're in the age of analytics where businesses are analyzing habits and responses on how to best maximize their profits. .

I'm torn about the changes. Personally, I don't mind paying for things I selectively choose. I have paid for breakfast room service to get up and going before an early port day or enjoying it on the balcony at sea. But I do hate to see the demise of the cruise experience where most everything is included. We'll likely eventually migrate to higher cabin classes.

I feel like I have to care about this issue. I don't, but I do care about "erosion". Of course, it's super cheap to cruise today if you're willing to cruise that way. I'm not. My issue isn't so much luxury or all-inclusiveness (though it's nice!) but that we like small ships. All the mass market lines have been getting rid of their small ships, and they've been going to more expensive (premium or luxury) lines, so to get the experience we want, we have to spend more money up front. Ah well. I don't have a problem creating a travel spreadsheet (I really like it ;-) to compare my options & prices, but having been a long time member of this message board and even longer at Cruise Critic, I'm aware there are MANY people who don't do that level of research, then they get disappointed, THEN they come to the message boards to complain. Instead of STARTING at the message board to do the research in advance to avoid disappointment....I'm way off target now so I'll stop ;-)

Not exactly. Rather, they're simply doing what every sector in the hospitality industry is doing: Recognizing consumer behaviors and adapting. We flew on Delta airlines last weekend. In the main cabin, itself, now, there are three separate classes of service, Basic Economy, Economy, and Comfort+. A new Disney hotel will have two different classes of studio unit, one so small that it is capacity limited to two and the other with a capacity limit of five. Effectively, the family-friendly company is surcharging traveling with your family. We can also talk about how ballparks and movie theaters and concert venues are all adapting to consumer behaviors in the same way.

It's fitting that they call it Cruise Critic. I've been a member there for almost fifteen years and I have never seen a change reflective of adapting the business to consumer behaviors that Cruise Critic members haven't hated - not just disliked - hated. The internet in general often serves as a dumping ground for pent up frustration of consumers not being able to get one over on service providers, so I don't put any significance on reviews and comments in that regard. What matters - and all that matters - is what people pay for. "I hate it but I did it anyway," should be viewed as a ringing endorsement. Even, "I hate it and won't ever do it again," is an endorsement, since that frustration factor makes that comment indistinguishable from, "I hate it and will say I won't do it ever again but I actually will."

There is a core cabal at Cruise Critic that is bitterly opposed to anything that falls outside of the "traditional" cruise model. They are horrified at new concepts like anytime dining, relaxed standards for formal night, lower-price options with reduced service, etc. and no doubt bemoan the loss of the Baked Alaska Parade. :rolleyes: