Five Things I'd Change About Luxury Cruising

During cocktail parties you'll often find me espousing the benefits of luxury cruise vacations to anyone who'll listen. I'm a die-hard fan who loves falling asleep in one port and waking up in another. But, as with all things, there's always room for improvement. Herein is my manifesto for what I'd change if I suddenly found myself the CEO of a luxury cruise line.

Five Things I'd Change About Luxury Cruising

1. Could we have some more 7-night itineraries, please? I know I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to see more 7-night itineraries from some luxury cruise lines. We'd love to sail with Oceania Cruises, but most voyages are 10- to 14-nights in duration. In our early forties, we're in the midst of our careers and being out of the office for two weeks or more just isn't possible most of the time. This change would go a long way in attracting the young, affluent consumer. SeaDream Yacht Club actually offers several five-night voyages and they seem to be consistently booked solid.
   
   
2. Increase the chocolate quotient. There's never enough chocolate available aboard luxury cruise ships. Seriously. I grew up in the age of The Love Boat television series and everything I heard about cruising included a description of the decadent dessert buffets and chocolate morsels to be had at every turn. I honestly haven't found that. In fact, some luxury ships stock fairly downmarket chocolates, such as those made by Godiva. While that name might have meant something in terms of quality long ago, it certainly doesn't now. I can buy Godiva at K-mart, for goodness sake! If it were up to me, cruise lines would stock higher quality chocolates from purveyors around the world. I will admit, however, that during a Caribbean cruise aboard Windstar's Wind Surf, the pastry chef took excellent care of me and my sweet tooth wanted for nothing!
   
   
3. No pink slips for the ship's photographer, please! I know many of you hate these contrived photo opportunities, but I'm sad that several luxury cruise lines have actually nixed their photography departments. As a photographer himself, my husband is behind the camera more often than not and some of the only pictures of us together have been taken by cruise line photographers. During our Grand Asia voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises, the ship's photographer took some great candids of us on deck with the volcanos of Kamchatka in the background.
   
   
4. It's 2009. Why is the Internet so slow on cruise ships? I used to give cruise lines a lot of slack on this one. After all, imagine the technical difficulties of wiring a ship for wifi access or upgrading communications packages for super-fast Internet connections. However, there are a lot of new ships coming online and many others being completely refurbished. Upgrading Internet communication should be a priority.
   
   
5. Let's give those single cruisers a break! I've been seeing a lot more special offers that rescind or lower the single supplement cruise fare. That's wonderful and I hope to see even more of it. If a particular voyage is selling slowly, offer a break on the supplement. Single cruisers will be grateful and will book more cruises.

Those are the five things I'd definitely change about the luxury cruise industry. What about you? What aspect of cruising do you think could be improved? Let us know!

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com