I gotta say... I'm surprised that you consider the food prices reasonable, especially in light of the payment you already made. Sure, they aren't high end NYC/Paris/Tokyo prices, but would it be fair to say that, on land, you'd expect better quality/accuracy from a standard restaurant charging those prices? I think I would (see: pizza, wrong coffee, etc)
That you'd already paid a price which, on similar cruises, includes all food, should make the low quality to price ratio (value) absolutely unacceptable, no?
I have to assume your base rate already fully cleared FS's cost of food, activities, etc and thus all onboard expenditures are pure profit... which makes the low food quality/accuracy even more abhorrent. After thinking through it, are those prices really *reasonable*?
@ Mattt -- I'm not saying the prices are cheap, but they were just less than I was expecting. Admittedly given how much Four Seasons Yachts is charging for the voyage, I assumed they'd try to charge more, figuring guests weren't that price sensitive. And yeah, the food quality was a real issue, especially given that they're charging for food, unlike other cruise lines. They need to do better.
As far as "clearing" costs based on the base rate, I think that's harder to quantify. For the time being, Four Seasons Yachts seems to have very high occupancy, but I suspect that's also due to the delay in launch (so lots of people rebooked), plus it being peak season.
As we know, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is struggling horribly with occupancy, so I don't assume that this venture is guaranteed to be successful, or anything.
I kind of get what Ben meant when he said the food costs were "reasonable." I'm not a cruise person, but for me the closest non-cruise comparison would be a luxury resort in a relatively isolated destination like the Maldives where there are few, if any, options for food not at your resort. The prices on the FS menus seemed lower overall than prices at those kinds of resorts and even lower than you would find at a FS type hotel in a city (where they have more competition). They are by no means cheap but they are comparatively more reasonable when you consider the captive audience situation.
The basic rooms -small like the Ritz ships at 448++ sf cost a lot at basic $11,000 per person... For that price I would want more space and dinner included! Nice overview though!
Someone could give me a million bucks today and I would never pay those prices with free money. Can't justify the expense.
Offensive. That's the only word I can come up with. I'm speechless.
I read most of it but honestly I couldn't finish bc not only am I not the target customer for this but I've been on dozens of cruises for under $7k/WK and I cannot believe this is a real product people are dumb enough (sorry Lucky I know you did it for science and we love ya for it, but tell me you didn't cry a little paying that bill)
Please someone with liquid net worth of wealth that is the supposed target for this. ....You got $35k, can you justify? And then paying for food. Like why? It's offensive. Okay you want water and feeling like a free pirate sailing the high seas. PEOPLE CHARTER YACHTS!!!
When I said I stopped reading it was at the cocktail menu with like an $80 vodka cocktail. Does vodka even taste like ... Anything? What's $80 vodka drink taste like? I hope I never find out.
This is so... ridiculous...lame.
Someone please explain how if you're even a billionaire, is this how you spend $35k or is it literally just like. "F-it I can never spend it all so let's just do the dumbest sh$# ever!"
OFFENSIVE
It's a hard pass for me. I just returned from 11 days on Silversea - I cannot imagine a better experience. Service was truly above and beyond, food was very good and everything except shore trips were included.
I have been on Seaborn and Silversea , and find them to provide good value.
My last cruise was truly exceptional.
I wish Ben would venture out of the ultra luxury catergory and try a cruise on one of the premium cruise lines. He might be suprised.
Nope; no interest. Cost to value not there. In my world, Viking and similar meet my "sort of" high end requirements without breaking the bank. Great review, Ben, and thanks for doing the dirty work for the rest of us.
Of all the trip experiences I'm not interested in, this is the top of the list of Hell No. I can't imagine ever justifying spending that kind of money for that kind of experience.
It is surprising to me that there is enough of a market for this to ever fill the ship. Do these passengers know that food is generally included on cruises? And the food offered seems over priced with a limited selection.
Thanks for conducting this scientific experiment, Ben. But what a waste of your time and money.
Those prices are steep. But I’ve paid that for a 7-day voyage on QM2 … and I got a 2000 sf duplex suite.
Yet I’ll never book with FS if they continue charging for meals and drinks. That’s outrageous. And I consider the prices on the menus to be unforgivable, considering an entry level room might be $35K.
As a person happily married to a Finn, I have long been trained in the Finnish love of sauna. In fact, we have a sauna in our home in Malta. (Takes some getting used to getting into a sauna when it 40C outside, and 60C in the sauna.
In your picture of the sauna Ben, I note the absence of the pile of heated stones, for which you can throw on some water from a wooden bucket to generate the steam that is part of the word sauna. Where was it, Ben?
For the average Finn, 60C is probably closer to their office aircon setting than it is to their sauna temperature setting 🙂
Why is it that at the Horizon Lounge, the cold mezze sampler platter (which Ben described as having 3 small bowls of mezze) costs $22, when you could buy 3 individual cold mezze for no more than $21 (assuming you got three different selections, and not all of the the most expensive one)?