CRUSING THEN AND NOW

Most of you know that I recently took a cruise to Alaska on Princess Cruise’s Crown Princess.  But perhaps only a few of you know that I formerly worked for Princess Cruises as their Assistant Controller back in the 1980’s.  In those days the business consisted of only three ships and was owned by a British shipping company, Peninsular and Oriental or P&O.  Today, Princess Cruises is owned by Carnival Cruise Line and consists of fifteen ships.  From my observation point, here is a description of the major changes in cruising over time from the earlier period to today.

Ship Capacity:  The newer ships of Princess Cruises have a dramatically higher passenger capacity than the older ships of the 1970’s-1980’s.  The “Love Boat” era ships could carry 700 to 750 passengers, whereas nearly all of the newer builds can transport from 3,000 to 4,000 passengers.  The reason for the massive increase in size ties together with the huge increase in popularity of cruising, but other economic matters come into play.  Cruise ships all have large fixed costs, but the marginal costs are smaller and pale in insignificance when compared to the marginal revenue.  Look at it this way:  to put one more passenger on a cruise it might cost an additional $75 per day, but bring in an additional $300-$400 revenue per day.  The overhead of operating a giant ship can be spread over significantly more revenue.  The larger capacity ships have certain inconveniences that the earlier, smaller ships did not have in that the smaller ships could get closer to some of the more remote destinations without assistance.  This restricts some of the newer ships from putting in to certain places in the Caribbean and/or South Pacific Islands, or wherever the port facility cannot handle a ship that large.

Dining Room and Restaurants:  The older smaller ships had one large dining room.  Passengers were able to choose either an early seating or later seating, but were assigned a specific table.  Further, if they traveled in couples or small groups, they would be matched with other passengers of similar age to fill out large tables.  The older ships had food service in some of the bars and deck areas, but it was largely snack oriented.  The Crown Princess has three separate dining rooms and accepts reservations for seating at any time in any one of them within a certain time range.  All passengers would be seated at tables accommodating their group size with no additional passengers seated at the same table.  Additionally, Crown Princess has two separate buffets that are open from 6AM to midnight continuously, along with two five-star restaurants—one Italian and the other a steak house.  Additionally, they have the usual poolside snacks and lunch service.  In both eras the food service was excellent and in a class above what could be expected in all but the finest stateside restaurants. 

Cash Versus Cashless:  The older ships used accounting systems where cards (or chits) were rung up on cash registers at the shops, bars, shore excursions, and other places where payments were required.  Each passenger maintained an account at the purser’s office and settled it much the same way any as they would in any hotel.  However, the gratuities were paid at the end of the cruise in cash, and cash was exchanged into tokens or chips to play in the casinos.  On Crown Princess, a computer system managed to create a cashless environment for the passengers’ convenience.  All passengers carried a small, battery-operated medallion that tracked the account’s information and passenger’s whereabouts while on board the ship.  They further could be used in certain shoreside locations for purchases.  The medallion had a credit card backing it up from each passenger and was settled automatically at the end of the cruise.  The medallion signaled the system when the passenger left the ship for a shore excursion and when he/she returned, giving the crew exact information as to whichever passengers were not on board when the ship was ready to sail.

Deck Facilities:  The older ships had a smaller deck surface to work with that usually included a pool and jacuzzi to go along with deck chairs.  Arranged deck activities had to make do with whatever available space was leftover.  The Crown Princess has massive topside deck space that includes four swimming pools, six hot tubs, and four extra partial decks above the Lido Deck which constituted the topside.  The Sports Deck forward includes an adults-only relaxation section.  The Sun Deck has a giant screen upon which movies were shown after dark.  The Sun Deck also features a fitness center and a day spa.  The Sky Deck has the Skywalkers Nightclub.  The Star Deck has a pickleball court and a jogging track. 

Steam Versus Diesel:  The earlier cruise ships had the standard steam drives that most vessels of the era had, with the steam turning turbines that generated electricity for the ship and its electric motors.  These ships burned what is known as Intermediate Fuel Oil, or IF180.  The fuel made a thick, black smoke that caused little problem at sea since it quickly blew away.  However, most ports of call would not permit these ships to burn IF180 while they were in port.  To provide electricity in port each ship would be required to also have a diesel electric system to be running just for that purpose.  In the mid 1980’s, Princess Cruises launched the Royal Princess, its first of a series of many new builds to replace the older ships.  The Royal Princess made use of six diesel electric engines—four with propeller drives, and two that provided electricity for the ship while in port.  The propeller drives also turned generators for electrical consumption on the ship while at sea.  Only two of the propeller drives were necessary to power the ship at sea with the other two put into operation whenever maintenance was needed.  Formerly, Princess Cruises would conduct tours of the engine room for interested passengers, but Crown Princess said that those tours had been discontinued.  So, from the standpoint of locomotion, the newer ships are really just giant motorboats that don’t pollute nearly as much as the older ones did.

Cost Versus Other Vacation Choices:  The cost of a cruise to a prospective passenger is measured by cabin class and broken down to a daily rate.  From there it is applied to the length of the cruise.  The cabin class is usually dependent on which deck the state room is located and whether it is towards the front or back of the ship.  The higher up the deck, the higher up the cabin class, with many of the top classes having balconies for the passengers to enjoy while at sea.  State room size is larger with the higher cabin classes; and some amenities, such as a tub in the bathroom, come with higher classes only.  But compare the overall cost of a seven-day cruise to a Caribbean location, for example, with the cost of flying to the same location, staying in five-star hotel, eating the finest foods, and having all necessities and most luxuries at your fingertips.  My cruise cost approximately $320 per day with everything included except shore excursions, on board purchases of merchandise, and any shoreside expense.  There was a limit of fifteen alcoholic beverages per day included free.  Further, the ship visited several destinations and not just one.  All gratuities were included; and that constituted a change from the earlier days when passengers were requested to tip the waiter (you had same one each day), buss boy, dinner captain, maitre d’, state room steward, all bartenders, casino dealers, porters, and tour guides.

Conclusions:  Cruising has long been considered to be far more relaxing than many other vacations that require driving, logistics, and decision-making.  All of the luxury of a five-star resort is at your fingertips and for one combined price.  I recommended it to everyone I knew back in the days when I worked for the company, and I still recommend it today.