Did you know that when it launched in 1998, Grand Princess, at 109,000 GRT, was the world’s largest cruise ship? Today, that title is held by Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas, which is a stonking 248,663 GRT and holds up to 7,600 passengers.
Grand Princess made its grand entrance at the same time I started writing about cruising. So I can’t quite claim the longevity of ROL Cruise, celebrating an amazing 30th anniversary this year, but I’m not far behind.
How things have changed in that time. Yes, ships have got bigger, but also river and expedition cruising have taken off, a whole new class of ultra-luxury cruise ships has emerged, cruise language has changed (anyone else noticed that the main dining room has morphed into the main restaurant?) and the number of Brits going on ocean cruises has rocketed. There were just under 400,000 in 1995, the year ROL Cruise launched, according to the then Passenger Shipping Association. In 2023, that had grown to 2.28 million.
Everything on board, from dining to the way we pay gratuities, has changed. Remember having to put cash into envelopes to hand to your cabin stewards, waiters, and the maître d’ of the main dining room where you were seated?
That, and the dining arrangements, was one of many things that surprised (actually shocked) me when I started cruising. I’d never been on a holiday where you were told when and where to dine, let alone being seated with strangers who were going to be your new best friends for the week, fortnight, or however long you were on board.
Sometimes it worked out; other times… well, let’s just say I was very pleased when, along with strict formal nights and captain’s tables (oh my goodness, they could be hard work sometimes, but people loved them because you got free booze), most cruise lines consigned set seating to Room 101.
A few cruise lines still keep it, partly because their passengers like it but I suspect also because it’s easier for the staff if they know when everyone is coming to eat. But even they haven’t been able to resist putting speciality restaurants on their ships.
Ah yes, the speciality restaurant. Who else remembers when they came in? I was with a group of journalists when the first cruise line announced it was going to put a restaurant on its ships and charge for it. It was going to be something paltry like $10 per person, the idea being that it covered your waiters’ gratuity. “It’ll never work,” we all chorused. People won’t pay to eat when they have already paid for the food in the main dining room.
Given many ships these days have three or four speciality restaurants (Icon of the Seas has eight) and the cost is anything from $30 to $140 per person. You’ll be pleased to hear, I have since thrown out that crystal ball!
Adding all those restaurants has, of course, only been possible because ships got bigger. The extra space has also enabled cruise lines to offer exclusive enclaves with private sun decks, pools and lounges for suite guests and add things we would never have imagined possible 30 years ago - water parks, ice rinks, even roller coasters - that’s if we had even thought of them at all!
