The small ships...why the extra $$$

[Cruise Junky]

For those that have sailed them, why are they so much more expensive for less amenities? No MUTS, No Sanctuary, No Anytime Dining, less choice of specialty restaurants, balconies cut from the hull, yet they charge a premium?

[fishywood]

You already found one of the reasons: no Sanctuary and less specialty dining = less onboard revenue.

But the main reason they get passengers to pay higher fares is getting to see ports that very few ships do: Amazon River, Spitzbergen, the Kiel Canal. Far less competition for these itineraries = far less discounting.

And for your premium fares you also get much lower passenger-to-public-space and passenger-to-crew ratios. Worth it for many of us.

[paul929207]

Adding to the above, the ship can also get to downtown where the big ships are docked a ways from town. For instance, in Hong Kong the Ocean Princess docks right next to the Star Ferry Terminal at the foot of Kowloon. In Shanghai, she docks on the Bund across from Pudang.

[caribill]

a) Less passengers to cover the fixed costs

 

b) As pointed out above, the unique itineraries. The small ships can go to ports that the new Royal Princess cound never go to. Also, even when going to the same ports as some as the larger ships, they will usually dock in a better location. In Shanghai, for example, the small ships dock downtown while the larger ships (such as the Diamond) dock in an industrial dock area away from the city itself.

 

There is a "mini-sanctuary" which they call a Private Spa Area and costs the same as the sanctuary on the larger ships. Not as plush and no food service.

 

 

They have two specialty restaurants (a steak one and Sabatini's), but only one is open each evening.

 

And, just like the new Royal Princess, the balconies are cut from the hull.

[Mom33]

Perhaps they cost more because they have less cabins to sell.:)

[Cruise Junky]

We're going to be particularly interested in the Honolulu to Vancouver cruise in the spring of 2014 and most of the items listed won't apply. She'll be hitting the same ports that the big ships do in Hawaii and be in exactly the same port. It will be interesting to see how she prices compared to the competition.

 

I'd rather stick with Princess but Pacific is missing a lot of what we love about the line.

[Pam in CA]

The small ship is a very different cruising experience. It costs more mostly because it's less-efficient to operate with fewer passengers to cover the costs as well as less onboard spending. Whether the ship is big or small, it still uses fuel to get to where it's going. Fuel is very expensive and if you have 670 passengers vs. 3,200 passengers, the cost of the cruise will be more.

 

While the small ships don't have some of the amenities you like, the overall service, from the Captain down to cabin steward is more personal. The entertainment staff have double-duty elsewhere on the ship. You're greeted more personally wherever you go. It's easier to meet new people... and find them again. It's hard to explain but I equate it to going to a small college vs. a big university, a local grocery store vs. a big supermarket, etc.

 

You may be surprised as how much you like it. It's not for everyone, though.

[toberman]

It's hard to explain but I equate it to going to a small college vs. a big university, a local grocery store vs. a big supermarket, etc.

 

You may be surprised as how much you like it. It's not for everyone, though.

 

Very good analogy Pam.

[shredie]

For those that have sailed them, why are they so much more expensive for less amenities? No MUTS, No Sanctuary, No Anytime Dining, less choice of specialty restaurants, balconies cut from the hull, yet they charge a premium?

 

I am happy to pay for no MUTS, and the cut of my balcony never bothers me. :) You have to try a smaller ship to appreciate it I guess.

[Cruise Junky]

I am happy to pay for no MUTS, and the cut of my balcony never bothers me. :) You have to try a smaller ship to appreciate it I guess.

 

That's probably true. It's all based on what you enjoy on a cruise. We haven't done traditional dining since I think 2006 and quite enjoy MUTS. a few cruises on Dawn and Sea tells us we loathe that type of balcony. we'll see how she prices out. Rhapsody and Radiance are doing a better itinerary the same month and we could do Solstice to Ensenada and get a drink package thrown in. We'll see on the 22nd.

 

I totally appreciate the aspect of her fitting into small ports and would pay a premium for that, but that won't come into play on the itinerary we're looking at.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We very much enjoyed our Med/Greek isles cruise on the Ocean and were lucky enough to catch a wonderful sale (haven't seen those in awhile:D) so cost was less than one of the larger ships. It really feels more like the crew and officers are family as you become very familiar with them. I do not like buffets as they are usually such madhouses, but the one on the Ocean was very civilized with no problem finding a table. And as others said,the ship visits ports that large ships do not which is priceless. For example, instead of docking in Naples Italy, the ship drops anchor at Sorrento...wonderful!!

 

We missed The flexibility of Anytime Dining (and the Bistro dining option was nothing to write home about) and the entertainment is not of the par of the large ships, but you wouldn't expect it to be.

[SoBaycruiser]

We will only sail on the smaller ships anymore because the big ships are too impersonal...especially with anytime dining. Some of our best friends were met on small ships.

 

The one thing I have found surprising on our upcoming Baltic trip is that with all the ports with multiple docks, the Ocean is never at the convenient one nearer downtown. I had expectations of being at some of the older smaller docks near the city center but not so. I am assuming that Princess just finds it easier to deal with info for one dock and where the Emerald goes on a regular basis, so goes the Ocean.

[Loonbeam]

Some of that is contract based. The smaller docks and larger may operate under different entities which adds a whole level of complexity when they are drawing up agreements.

 

We will only sail on the smaller ships anymore because the big ships are too impersonal...especially with anytime dining. Some of our best friends were met on small ships.

 

The one thing I have found surprising on our upcoming Baltic trip is that with all the ports with multiple docks, the Ocean is never at the convenient one nearer downtown. I had expectations of being at some of the older smaller docks near the city center but not so. I am assuming that Princess just finds it easier to deal with info for one dock and where the Emerald goes on a regular basis, so goes the Ocean.

[Coral]

That's probably true. It's all based on what you enjoy on a cruise. We haven't done traditional dining since I think 2006 and quite enjoy MUTS. a few cruises on Dawn and Sea tells us we loathe that type of balcony. we'll see how she prices out. Rhapsody and Radiance are doing a better itinerary the same month and we could do Solstice to Ensenada and get a drink package thrown in. We'll see on the 22nd.

 

I totally appreciate the aspect of her fitting into small ports and would pay a premium for that, but that won't come into play on the itinerary we're looking at.

 

Some friends recently returned from the Pacific Transatlantic. They were pretty bored on the sea days over. I know a lot has to do with the CD and they didn't have the usual CD that is usually on the ship. They stated the ship is great on port intensive parts of cruises but would never do the ship again with many sea days. To each their own - I personally am content to find a corner and read a book but some need more activities then that. Something to consider.

[JLC@SD]

It is pretty obvious that on a per passenger basis .....smaller ships are more expensive to operate .....which is why they are building bigger and bigger ships. The only lines building small ships are the high cost lines.

[cab519]

We're going to be particularly interested in the Honolulu to Vancouver cruise in the spring of 2014 and most of the items listed won't apply. She'll be hitting the same ports that the big ships do in Hawaii and be in exactly the same port. It will be interesting to see how she prices compared to the competition.

 

I'd rather stick with Princess but Pacific is missing a lot of what we love about the line.

 

We're also interested in doing Honolulu to Vancouver one-way (or vice versa), but I do not see any Princess cruise with this itinerary in Spring of 2014 (or any date or any ship). This way can spend more time in Hawaii, and save on flights as we live in western Canada. Do you have any more information? They used to do this run, but have not seen it in a while. Princess - bring it back!

 

Guess the small ships have to divide the Captain, Staff, Hotel GM, Exec Chef, etc. amongst less passengers, so higher costs, so higher price.

[piper28]

The real reason they cost more is because they can get away with charging it. There's enough people that like the small ships that there's enough demand to keep the rates higher. I've seen them discount some of the itineraries that are a little more in the "off" periods of time (like May for the Med), but outside of that, they're asking a premium, and people are willing to pay it. If they couldn't get the price, they'd charge less.

[billie5]

I think many of the CCers are completely "missing the boat" on this one. It really doesn't matter what the per passenger cost is. There really is one and only one reason: cruisers are willing to pay the higher fare. I am certain that if the talking heads at Princess found passengers were willing to pay much higher fares on one of the mega-liners, its fare would go up to whatever the market dictated.

 

So the OP's question is really wrong. The relevant question is: Why are passengers willing to pay a significantly higher fare for the small ships? It seems many of the responses have already answered this.

[Cruise Junky]

We're also interested in doing Honolulu to Vancouver one-way (or vice versa), but I do not see any Princess cruise with this itinerary in Spring of 2014 (or any date or any ship). This way can spend more time in Hawaii, and save on flights as we live in western Canada. Do you have any more information? They used to do this run, but have not seen it in a while. Princess - bring it back!

 

Guess the small ships have to divide the Captain, Staff, Hotel GM, Exec Chef, etc. amongst less passengers, so higher costs, so higher price.

 

It goes on sale on the 22nd. They just cancelled the World Cruise and have replaced ith with some South Pacific and it ends with a one way from Honolulu to Vancouver probably late April, early May.