At Sea with Doug Newman

Last week, Carnival announced that it is renaming its eight Fantasy-class ships as part of its Evolutions of Fun program to upgrade these now middle-aged ships.

But what is Evolutions of Fun, anyway? It encompasses a whole range of enhancements, and a lot of them - new bedding, flat-panel TVs, enhanced kids’ and teens’ facilities, coffee bars, upgraded spa facilities - probably sound very familiar to anyone acquainted with Holland America Line’s Signature of Excellence program.

Indeed, almost every part of Evolutions of Fun appeared first in Signature of Excellence, a $225 million program that revitalized just about every area of HAL’s product from 2004 to 2006. (Then-HAL subsidiary Windstar Cruises got its own version, Degrees of Difference.) Evolutions of Fun is smaller - it deals with only one class of ships, not a whole fleet, and is strictly “hardware” - but it’s still pretty easy to see where the inspiration came from.

And it isn’t the first such program inspired by Signature of Excellence either. Earlier this year, P&O Cruises announced its Elevation program. Key elements? New bedding, new menus, new enrichment programs - more shades of Signature of Excellence.

Of course, all three differ in size and detail, but the basic concept is the same. Carnival, Holland America and P&O are three of the most successful and respected names in cruising, but clearly they all felt their brands could use a bit of touching up - and what better way than this?

I think P&O Commercial Director Nigel Esdale hits the nail on the head:

“The Elevation programme is a promise to customers and a commitment to raising the standards of excellence in cruising.

The price of our cruise holidays may have fallen in real terms but customer expectations have risen, P&O Cruises is evolving with its customers to continue to exceed these expectations.

Today’s cruise passengers are savvy and discerning. They are modern consumers who expect the very best from their cruise experience. Things that were once perceived as luxuries are now the norm for our customers in their everyday lives, such as going out to a Michelin starred restaurant, enjoying fine wines, and watching TV on 36 inch flat panel screens.

The Elevation programme is designed to keep us moving with the times, consistently providing a better holiday experience for our passengers. We believe the time to raise the bar is when you are No 1; our customer satisfaction questionnaires consistently rate us as ‘excellent’ but we are not resting on our laurels.”

(It seems that “e” words are of great importance here - note that Mr. Esdale manages to effortlessly employ “Elevations”, “excellence”, “expectations”, “evolve”, “exceed” and “experience” all within a few sentences. Not to mention the names of the programs themselves!)

I think the bit about luxury becoming the norm is really key - indeed, it’s difficult to define just what luxury is these days. But that’s a topic for another day…