With their emphasis on families and first time cruisers they are driving away the repeat, adult cruisers who are not motivated by discount fares and loyalty programs, but by a specific product which emphasises great food and quality service above all else. Arison’s genious in the early years was that he knew how to combine elements of a land resorts with ocean voyages into a seamless, near all inclusive package which appealed to adults (mostly) who wanted a worry-free vaction in style and affordability. That business model has been hollowed out to such an extent that it no longer really exists, at least from what I can gather from posts on this forum as well as others. This demographic is drifting to the high end lines (if they can afford it) or to all inclusives. You would think that they would retain the traditional, adult business models in their premium brands, such as Celebrity and Holland America, but they too have gone the way of the mass lines, only with a little more gloss. Personally, I feel the cruise lines need to think long and hard about the effects of cheapening their product and of alienating this demographic, because it’s going to be very hard to get them back once they’re turned off.

However, all the mass market lines lately are “guilty” of pretending to be “resorts”. Not quite sure why they’re not happy being cruise ships.