Luxury lovers have a lot of choices when it comes to cruise ships.
Nearly a half dozen so-called luxury lines such as Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Seabourn offer a travel experience at sea that is every bit as elegant, intimate and service-focused as what you’ll find at the top luxury hotels on land.
On Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Splendor, for instance, every cabin is a suite (with some as big as the average American home), the restaurants serve gourmet fare worthy of a Michelin star and the staff-to-passenger ratio is through the roof at nearly one-to-one.
But luxury ships, which tend to be relatively small, aren’t your only option for living large at sea.
You’ll also find a growing number of luxury experiences available on the giant mass-market ships operated by the likes of Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises — often as part of a package that’s significantly less expensive than what you would pay to be on a luxury ship.
Indeed, with a few hacks, it’s increasingly possible to turn a voyage on a big, bustling (and affordable) megaship designed for the masses into something almost akin to a luxury cruise.
This can be the perfect solution for luxury lovers who want to experience the world’s biggest floating megaresorts without giving up the upscale touches to which they’re accustomed.
Just keep in mind that even on a mass-market ship you will pay more to live it up in high style. You just might have more flexibility in choosing the luxury experiences for which you do and don’t want to pay.
Here are six ways to turn a voyage on a mass-market ship into a luxury experience:
Get a room in a private luxury enclave
On a growing number of the biggest mass-market vessels, such as Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore, you’ll now find private “ship-within-a-ship” luxury enclaves with their own private pools, lounge areas and even restaurants.
You’ll often pay a big premium to get a room in one of these private enclaves but the luxury perks can be well worth it.
Cruisers staying in the private luxury enclave on Norwegian Encore, known as The Haven, for instance, have access to a pre-cruise concierge who can handle all sorts of requests such as the delivery of special pillows to your room or the stocking of a particular type of chamomile tea. A pre-cruise concierge also will book your spa treatments, dining reservations and shore excursions long before you ever get on board.
The lounge in The Haven on Norwegian Cruise Line’s 4,004-passenger Norwegian
Bliss has the most spectacular view on the ship.
The exclusive The Haven suite complex on Norwegian Bliss includes a private pool area.
The Haven complex itself is quite the luxury hideaway. Among its standout features is a stunning, two-deck-high lounge that overlooks the front of the vessel and offers the best views on the ship. There’s also a private restaurant where you’ll never have trouble getting a table and a private courtyard area with its own pool, sundeck, hot tub and fitness area.
You’ll also find “ship-within-a-ship” luxury enclaves on more than half of MSC Cruises ships, while the newest Celebrity Cruises ships such as Celebrity Apex have their own private keycard-accessed luxury hideaways for passengers staying in suites known as The Retreat.
Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas will have a luxury getaway, too.
Book a ‘concierge cabin’
In lieu of offering private luxury enclaves on their biggest ships, some mass-market lines offer “concierge cabins” on their vessels — cabins that come with special concierge service and, sometimes, an exclusive concierge lounge.
You’ll typically pay a premium to get into one of these rooms compared to a similarly sized cabin that does not come with the concierge designation. But, again, this sort of premium cabin can be well worth the extra cost.
On Disney Cruise Line ships, for instance, booking a concierge cabin brings access to a concierge lounge with complimentary food and nonalcoholic beverages throughout the day; complimentary beer, wine and spirits in the evening (served by a bartender); access to an exclusive sun deck with lounge chairs via a private entrance and a private Disney character meet-and-greet.
Oceania Cruises ships Marina and Riviera both have a dedicated Concierge Lounge
with concierge services for passengers staying in Concierge class cabins.
In addition, a concierge is on hand during the day to help make onboard dining reservations, book shore excursions and spa appointments, organize childcare services and arrange special occasions on board.
Similarly, on the two newest Oceania Cruises ships, Marina and Riviera, passengers staying in Concierge Veranda-category cabins get access to a private concierge lounge serving snacks and nonalcoholic drinks throughout the day. Plus, a concierge is on hand during the day to help make onboard dining reservations, book shore excursions and spa appointments and answer questions about ports.
Upgrade your onboard dining
The world’s biggest mass-market cruise ships these days are loaded with an incredible range of restaurants, from cavernous, included-in-the-fare main dining rooms serving flavorful banquet-like dishes to much more intimate, made to order, high-end, extra-charge “specialty” restaurants. This offers luxury lovers a chance to upgrade their experience greatly simply by shunning the former and embracing the latter (a strategy that, of course, will cost more).
On the biggest Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises ships, we will often skip the main restaurants entirely during cruises and reserve tables at an extra-charge restaurant every night. This greatly changes the feel of cruising on these vessels, as dinnertime transforms from what is often a very mass-market experience to something much more upscale.
Norwegian’s newest ships offer such extra-charge options as Onda by Scarpetta, a high-end Italian restaurant from the creators of New York’s Scarpetta, and Food Republic, a casual tapas and sushi venue created in partnership with Miami’s Pubbelly Boys.
Royal Caribbean’s giant Oasis Class ships have intimate, upscale restaurants called 150 Central Park that offer a six-course tasting menu with wine pairings
Royal Caribbean’s biggest ships have extra-charge eateries designed by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. A few Princess vessels have restaurants created by Australian-born chef Curtis Stone.
Reserve private deck space
One of the downsides of sailing on a big mass-market ship is that you’ll be sharing the ship’s deck-top pools, hot tubs and loungers with thousands of other passengers. But there increasingly are ways on the biggest ships to get away from the crowds — for an extra charge, of course.
Some of Norwegian’s newest ships have exclusive, extra-charge deck-top retreats called Vibe Beach Clubs that will let you relax in the sun in style.
On Norwegian Encore, the Vibe Beach Club area spans both sides of the ship (instead of just one side as on earlier vessels in the same series) and extends upward to a partial deck above. Priced at $99 per day, it’s a lovely hideaway with a full-service bar, cabanas and two hot tubs that just might make you think you’re on a small luxury ship.
If you want to upgrade even more, you can pay $278 for two to rent a cabana in Vibe Beach Club for the day.
Other big-ship lines with extra-charge upscale retreats on their top decks include Princess, which is known for The Sanctuary zones.
On other ships, such as the Celebrity vessel Celebrity Equinox, you’ll find special private cabanas available at otherwise public top-deck venues that will give you an upgraded feel.
Make the spa your second home
One often-overlooked way to escape the masses on a mass-market ship — and get a taste of the fancy life — is to spend at least part of your days lounging in the ship’s spa.
Many of the world’s biggest cruise ships have spectacular spa zones that offer a lot more than just treatment rooms and salon services. You’ll often find huge thermal suites full of special pools, hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas and heated ceramic tile loungers.
You’ll usually get access to these thermal suites on a complimentary basis when you book a spa treatment. But, in some cases, you also can buy day passes to these areas that are sold through the spa or the ship’s guest services desk. That means that you don’t even need to sign up for a spa treatment to spend a day escaping from the tourist hordes in your ship’s spa.
Just be warned that the number of such spa day passes available often is limited to keep the spa uncrowded, which is exactly how you want it to be if you’re using it as an escape.
Note that some lines also offer access to spas to passengers who book special spa-class cabins. Celebrity, for instance, has spa-themed AquaClass cabins that come with special access to its shipboard spas. You’ll pay a little more for an AquaClass cabin on a Celebrity ship than a similar cabin that isn’t part of the AquaClass.
Go swanky during port calls
There’s nothing that says “mass-market” quite like being stuck on a bus tour of a destination with 40 or more fellow cruisers. But just because you’re on a mass-market ship doesn’t mean you have to sign up for a standard, big-group tour.
For an extra charge — many big cruise ships will arrange for you to have a private car and driver in a port to take you wherever you want to go.
Many lines that operate private island destinations also have been adding ever more upscale, exclusive options for passengers willing to pay up for a luxury experience.
The first floating cabanas in the Bahamas have opened at Royal Caribbean’s private island,
Royal Caribbean, for instance, recently built elaborate floating cabanas at Perfect Day at CocoCay, its private island in the Bahamas. Costing as much as $1,500 per day during peak times, they come with space for up to eight people, a private attendant, an overwater hammock, a slide to the water and a shower.
The cabanas are part of a new, exclusive private corner of Perfect Day called Coco Beach Club that offers a ritzy private beach, infinity pool, upscale restaurant and al fresco bar. Passes to the Coco Beach Club start at $54 per person.
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