A new study, Exploring the Factors Affecting Cruise Passengers’ Perceptions of Value for Money Expressed in Online Reviews, identifies key factors influencing cruise passengers’ perceptions of value for money.
Using the website Cruise Critic as the main data source for the study, researchers analysed 97 559 reviews from cruise passengers through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Cruise ships were then divided into three categories: standard cruises (65,7%), premium cruises (32,9%) and luxury cruises (1,4%).
The study found that dining, service quality and offshore excursions were the top drivers for value perception, with passengers frequently citing high quality and variety of food options, attentive and professional staff, as well as unique and engaging experiences as reasons for value perceptions of cruises.
In contrast, researchers found that passengers aboard standard and premium cruises perceived the age and size of a cruise ship to have the opposite effect, as passengers saw newer and larger ships as more expensive and less value for money.
For luxury cruises, the age and size of the ship had no effect on passengers’ perceptions of value for money.
