What truly defines luxury cruising, and is it worth the splurge? In this Q&A episode of Luxury Cruising, Dr. Krystal Sodaitis answers questions, from the differences between concierge, butler, and Royal Genie service to why smaller ships won't bore you. Perfect for curious travelers wondering if luxury fits their vibe, budget, or family.
Join host Dr. Krystal Sodaitis for a listener-driven Q&A unpacking the essentials of luxury cruising. She dives into what sets luxury lines apart from premium and mainstream (think space, service, and fewer thrills), she breaks down personalized service roles like concierge, butler, and the ultimate Royal Genie, and shares honest takes on value, first-timer picks, suite selection, onboard boredom myths, and demographics for younger cruisers.
Whether you're eyeing a serene Seabourn escape or a ship-within-a-ship like MSC Yacht Club, this episode equips you to decide if luxury cruising aligns with your travel dreams, without the hype.
Episode Highlights
Podcast Mentioned In the Episode
A Honeymoon Aboard Explora Journeys | Ep 44
About the Host
Dr. Krystal Sodaitis is a pediatrician, executive, and life coach for neurodiverse physicians—and the passionate host behind Luxury Cruising. She brings expert insight and honest excitement to every interview, helping curious travelers elevate their adventures at sea.
📍 Website: luxurycruising.net
📧 Email: luxurycruisingpodcast@gmail.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/krystalsodaitis
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Welcome back to Luxury Cruising. I'm your host, Krystal Sodaitis, and I'm so glad you're with me again this week. This week I've got some q and a about luxury cruising. I thought I would put together some of the most common questions that I get about. Luxury cruising. If you have a question about luxury cruising, please, you can put it in the comments, um, in this podcast episode, or you could just email me at Luxury Cruising podcast@gmail.com.
It's always in the show notes, but in case you just wanna hear it one more time, it's luxury cruising. podcast@gmail.com. Please, if you have any questions about this episode about luxury cruising in general, I would love for you to write in and I will definitely answer it on the show. So of the questions I have this week, the first is.
[00:01:00] What actually makes a cruise luxurious? And how is a luxury cruise line different from a premium or mainstream Cruise line. And so I wanna break that up into two different things because what makes a cruise luxurious is really dependent on the person You know, I ask all of my guests how they define luxury.
So for. one person. Luxury may mean ease. That when they get on the ship, everything is easy. Everything is taken care of. For another person, luxury means space, that they're not shoulder to shoulder with people all the time on a giant, you know, Centrum or. Promenade or that they don't have to jockey for seats for the entertainment.
that what makes a cruise luxurious is different for everybody. When I think of a [00:02:00] luxurious cruise or a luxury cruise, I really think about service. The service is exceptional. Um, almost anticipatory, right? I don't need to. Always be asking for, you know, can I have this, can I have that? Can I have, you know, my water felt or whatever.
it's thought of beforehand and it's done for me. Um, so that's one of the things that I think about when I think about a luxury cruise. I also think about a ship decor. That it's usually modern, sleek, clean lines. That's what I think of when I think of luxury. Um, definitely space. The number of people on board is not, or at least in that area, is not as many, there's not as much density of people.
Those are the kinds of things I think of when, um, I think of luxury now. When we think of a premium. A premier or a mainstream cruise line? What makes them different from a luxury line? Well, [00:03:00] first it's usually the size of the ship. Not universally, but most premium or mainstream cruise lines are going to be in the two, three, even up to 7,000.
Passengers per ship. Luxury cruise lines are usually less than that. It's usually a thousand, maybe 2000, but then we know it might go all the way down to just a hundred passengers on the ship. Your premium and your mainstream cruise lines are going to have a really wide variety of things to do. Food options, entertainment options.
it can be an all day event just going from, activity to activity. Luxury lines may not have that many activities, but they're not going to appeal as much to. Children and younger travelers 'cause they're not gonna have the bells and whistles.
A mainstream cruise line is going to [00:04:00] have a rock climbing wall, a roller coaster, a zip line. All of those kinds of things you're gonna find on a mainstream cruise line. You're not really gonna find those on a premium cruise line, but they will have some.
Dedicated children's programming, usually a children's space, luxury cruise lines are not gonna have dedicated children's space. that doesn't mean that the majority of them do take children. they all have their. minimum age you have to be in order to cruise. But as of right now, from the luxury standpoint, really only Oceana, does not allow children.
You could put Viking up there. I do consider Viking luxury. and, Virgin, I think is a premium cruise line also doesn't take children. So, For the most part, the differences between a luxury cruise line and a premium or mainstream cruise line are going to be the number of passengers size of the ship, the amount of activities available, and [00:05:00] then definitely the service, right?
Because you're gonna have a lower passenger to crew ratio. I had to think about that one for a minute. Is it higher or lower? Right, or. You know, you're gonna be closer to one to one in terms of number of passengers, to number of crew. It might be two to one, it might be four to one, but it's not gonna be, you know, I would think, I don't know for sure, but on a mainstream cruise line, you're probably looking at 10 to one in terms of crew to passenger ratio.
but I would tell you also that most premium and mainstream cruise lines, especially in the newer ships, ships built in the last 10 years or so, they have a sweet class. We've talked to a lot of people who have been in the Haven. Um, you know, in STAR class they have a sweet class.
They have a ship within a ship concept where you have the opportunity to be separated from the majority of the passengers and of the ship generally your own. [00:06:00] Sundeck, maybe a pool, maybe a restaurant. You're not gonna find that on a luxury cruise line because you really don't need it.
you know, there's not a ton of people. There's usually plenty of space at the pool. The service is excellent. So, um, you don't find a ship within a ship concept on a luxury line. The next question that comes up a lot is what is the difference between a genie, a butler, and a concierge? And I'm gonna take this one backwards because like the concierge to the butler, to the genie, those are increasing grades for me.
So a concierge is somebody that works not just for you there. The proportion of people or the number of people that the concierge serves is generally higher than a butler or a genie. The concierge can do things for you, like, um, they will make preservations for a show they might. help you understand how to get [00:07:00] transportation.
Um, when you go to a port, do you need a taxi? I've had a concierge, uh, print out a map for me because I wanted to know, how to walk to a certain place in a port. Um, concierges can help you with mostly what, like when you would go to the service desk or customer service or guest relations.
The concierge kind of serves as a guest relations agent, but for a smaller number of people. So you don't have to wait in the long line for guest services. I remember, um, when Hollis who was telling us about a grand suite.
and he told us that he went to a suite lounge, concierge. And because he had lost his room card, they just printed out a new one instead of having to go all the way down to guest services and wait in the line and get a new, key card, cpass card, that's what they're cpass card printed out.
So that's the kind of things that a concierge can do for you. Now a butler. The Butler works more and the concierge usually is in an outside area, a suite lounge or a specialty area. [00:08:00] The Butler now works. Specifically for you within your room? Um, these are usually found, either on luxury lines.
There are some luxury lines where everybody has a butler. and then there are on premium and mainstream cruise lines. When you have a certain level of suite, you get a butler. And the butler again, works anything you need in your room. If you need snacks, if you need more drinks, some butlers will, you know.
Unpack and even pack for you that's like crossing a line for me. I may not mind somebody unpacking me, but I'm not having somebody pack my dirty clothes. Like, that's not happening. But, you know, those are the kinds of things that Butler, we had Matt, who was on, silver Sea, and he had talked about how one day his butler had drawn him a bath, and I think he put some like scent in there and had some fresh popcorn for him in his room.
So the Butler really takes care of you. Inside of your room, and can get you things if you need. when Jennifer was talking about the Haven, [00:09:00] she talked about how her butler almost scolded her saying like, oh no, if you need room service, you call me. I help, I get the room service. food up for you, you know, hot and ready.
So that's kind of what the Butler does. Now, the genie is almost like a butler on steroids. royal genies are limited to Royal Caribbean ships. Actually, this just changed, I was about to say Royal Caribbean ships that have, Sweet classes, the star class, the sky class, and the C class.
and if you are in the highest class, which is the star class, you get a royal genie. Now on other Royal Caribbean ships, you can buy up to the Genie experience. So even though these other ships don't have that sweet class of rooms, they do offer the Royal Genie experience. And what a Genie does is.
They're not gonna unpack for you. I'll tell you that a royal genie is not gonna unpack for you, and they won't draw you a bath, but they [00:10:00] will do certain nice things for you in your room. They certainly help you with any food that you need delivered. when you're in that class of sweet on Royal Caribbean, you can.
Have any food from any of the royal cream restaurants brought to your state room, and you can eat in your state room. The genie doesn't bring it to you, but they facilitate it so that you get it in a timely manner and so that it's hot and you don't have to go through the r and roll of ordering it.
You basically just tell the genie what they want and they take care of it. Genie also can get you, you know, from point A to point B. We've talked a lot about like the expedited elevators on star class. You don't get a little medallion that, helps you in a special elevator. But the genie can do that.
The genie helps you with priority embarkation. they escort you through priority demarcation. Um, they do little things like. if you're going to a show, they might, reserve your seats, the seats that you want, and they might bring you some popcorn. They make sure that you have drinks [00:11:00] beforehand.
They make all of your reservations. they make all of your show reservations. the genie really does. It's really one-on-one, service that extends beyond your room. It could be almost anywhere in the ship.
Next question is, is luxury cruising worth it? Is it worth the higher price tag for the value that you actually get? And I have to tell you, for the most part, yes. And also it depends if it's something that you value. If you. Value being on a cruise and being in a space with not a lot of people around you, where, um, it's much quieter.
and you know, have a server that's basically always just standing around waiting to take your drink or your food order. Then yes, it's absolutely worth it. But if you just wanna be on a ship and you don't mind being in an inside state room [00:12:00] and you just listen to this podcast 'cause you're kind of like me, like you like to hear about luxury, but maybe you're not living in luxury all the time, then no.
Then it wouldn't be worth it for you. But I think that There is an ability to get. A luxurious cruise experience and get on a luxury cruise line that doesn't break the bank. There are inexpensive luxury trips out there. You just have to find them. And we've talked about explorer and the price tag For Explorer Journeys, it's pretty competitive because they are a relatively new luxury cruise line.
you can get. A suite on Explorer journeys for less than what you might get a suite on, a contemporary or premium cruise line. And that's because the people who are buying the suites on a contemporary or premium cruise line want luxury and a higher level of service, but they also want to be in all of the action.[00:13:00]
That's totally fine. But if you don't want all that action, but still want a luxurious experience, but maybe don't wanna pay tens of thousands of dollars for a one week cruise, you can find that on a luxury line and what do you get included?
Right? You get wifi. You get your drinks, you get some excursions. When you even start to add all of that up, even on, some of the newer ships, like Norwegian Aqua, right?
I would bet that even a balcony state room on one of those ships, when you start adding in maybe your guest and specialty dining, you get the wifi, you get the drinks, you're butting up against the cost of a luxury cruise line. Now are you gonna get at the same time. The racetrack, the go-kart track. Um, you're not gonna get guys burgers or blue iguana or cagney's on [00:14:00] Norwegian, but you will have that.
You will still get a great experience and perhaps even better.
The next question is, which cruise lines or ship within the ship experiences are best for first timers? And this one I also think is just such a hard question. Um, because again, it depends on what does that first timer want. I think that for a first timer who just wants to try luxury, I would definitely go with.
Something like an Explore Journeys or a Silver Sea Seaborn, Oceana. Um, not like the ultra premium, not like a crystal or, like a scenic. If you just wanna get a general sense of what luxury cruising is like, not ultra luxury. Um, then I think one of those, and I have never sailed on.
Oceana, you know, silver Seaborne [00:15:00] or Explore Journeys. I hope to one day, but from talking to all the people that I talk to, I feel like they're. Almost equal, but they have little nuances. And so maybe you talk to some other people who have done them. Maybe you talk to your travel agent to see which one fits you best.
You look at the itinerary, you look at the price, you look at the, you know, layout of the ship. I'm sure many of them have, um, you know, YouTube videos with a ship tour. And then you decide which one fits you better. If you are looking for a luxury experience, but maybe you're doing multi-generational, maybe you have kids, then I would definitely go with a ship within a ship concept, something like, you know, MSC Yacht Club or, Royal Caribbean Suite class, because then you have your, you know, sanctuary.
It's not the Princess Sanctuary, but you have your sort of. Private space, quiet space away from [00:16:00] the, you know, large groups of people. But then you also have the opportunity to, if you wanna go to the comedy club, if you wanna do the zip line, you still have that there. And there are many more, options in terms of food and dining.
More people to talk to and meet. So if that's what you like, then the ship within a ship concept is probably the best way for you to go. Another question that comes up a lot is, how do I choose the right suite or state room for my needs? And you know, this is so personal because
It really depends I'm gonna just go with suite class and not even talk about like inside room or OSHA view. Like, we're not going there. This is just higher end suites. How do I know which is the right suite for me? And I really think that it's hard to go wrong because I can tell you that
A two [00:17:00] bedroom Aqua Theater Suite is really loud and I will never again sail in a suite that faces the Aqua Theater because it's not just that they're doing the shows, it's also that they are rehearsing every single day. So sometimes for hours during the day, you're hearing the music and all of the rehearsal stuff for the Aqua Show, and it took away from my enjoyment.
Of the balcony. And so if that is you, then perhaps you don't want that. Perhaps you do want an aft facing balcony. I would've preferred to look out. AFT facing is where you're looking at the back of the boat and you see the wake of the boat and it's just the most beautiful view and I think I may have preferred that.
I think I've mentioned it before, that I have. Had a central Park balcony, and at first I really didn't like it. I did not [00:18:00] like it because it was so noisy. But then I grew to appreciate it because when you're on your balcony and if you were in this act facing balcony.
It is quiet, it is beautiful, but you're kind of alone. and some people may really like that. What I liked about the Central Park balcony, and sometimes you would get, I've actually stayed in two Central Park balconies, one that was really close to the pool deck where I had pool deck noise and one that was sort of like in the middle.
and I had Central park noise and I felt like I was on my balcony, but I was still on the ship. I was still involved in the ship life and I grew to really like that. So, um, just things to consider. I mean, I think in general, obviously if you're prone to seasickness, I'm not, so I think it's like middle of the boat, definitely middle of the boat, maybe lower.
lower deck. I personally don't like being on a lower deck. Um, I don't like staying like below deck nine. I just prefer to be up higher [00:19:00] away from the water that you're usually closer to some things, when you're on deck nine. So. you know, this is where a great travel agent that understands you can talk to 'em about what you're thinking, what your likes are, what your dislikes are, and where your travel agent can really be very, very helpful in helping you decide where the best suite or state room is, um, for your needs.
And obviously, you know, if you. Have special needs and you need, um, an accessible bathroom. You need to talk about that too. that goes without saying in terms of this question. and then for our last question, this is something that comes up and I completely understand this, like on a big ship, there's always something to do.
We talked about that a little bit earlier, the cruise planner and there's activity after activity after activity. I still think it's very hard to be bored on a cruise ship, and especially because there's always something to do and on a larger ship, [00:20:00] especially on a premium line, you know, whether it's a pool or the aforementioned,
Some of them have a ropes course or, you know, there's usually a sport court where some dance classes is going on or watching a show or there's a game show or trivia. during the day and then at night often there are so many bars and the bars all have music playing. Then there's a theater show, and so there's so much to do on a big ship and on a smaller luxury ship.
People say like, I'm gonna get bored. Like, there just isn't that much to do. And while you're not gonna find a Broadway show, those bigger production shows are unlikely to happen on a luxury ship.
But I will say that because ofthe smaller ships in the luxury lines, they are also very discerning in the entertainment that they get. And so the entertainment that does come on from all that I have heard is excellent It's very high quality. The people are very [00:21:00] talented.
Sometimes the crew put on a show they put on a talent show that they get very excited about. they do play games and sometimes trivia. Sometimes there's karaoke and because there's such a small ship, you get to know people. And so that almost makes karaoke even more fun.
Often smaller luxury lines will bring on, Performers that are from the area. So you really get immersed in the culture and they have local acts either performing music or doing their craft or whatever on board, which is really amazing. So
I don't think that you are. Likely to get bored. Will the entertainment be different? Yes. Do you sometimes have to just roll with it and go with the punches? Yeah. And then you could just, you know. Go in your room, relax. and something that, took me a long time to come to understand with cruising is that it really is okay to do nothing.
Like you don't [00:22:00] have to fill every single moment with something to do. Going from bingo to karaoke to, trivia. Sometimes it's okay. I think my kids really showed me this because they were like, I'm just gonna go chill in the room. And at first I was like, you gotta chill in the room. You can do that at home, but it's like you're vacation.
Like this is vacation. You can chill, right? I can go sit on my balcony, I can take a nap. I don't have to have my day fully packed every day by the entertainment staff. actually I do have one more question that came in. I'm in my thirties. I can totally afford to go luxury, but I'm worried that I'll be the only person my age.
Yeah, I think that you. may not be the only person in their thirties, but there won't be a lot, mostly on luxury lines. There are gonna be mostly older people, but there are kids there, sometimes older people bring their younger children, right? If you're somebody in your, sixties or seventies [00:23:00] and you wanna take your whole family along, maybe you bring your kids.
we had Megan on who's in her thirties, Who did her honeymoon on Explore Journeys, she said, yeah, there weren't a lot, but we've had people do Viking I think she was in her twenties on Viking doing a Viking River cruise, and she absolutely loved it.
Bradley is in his thirties, I think he's just 30, and he's doing six star cruises. He absolutely loves it. if you like cruising, then you're going to meet and talk to other people who like cruising, even if they're 10 years older than you. You have that in common. And I think the other thing too is if you are taking a very specific.
Cruise, for example, when Mo was on Mo talked about her Asara cruise around Ireland. It didn't matter if they were 15, 20, 30 years older than her, everybody was interested in seeing Ireland. And so you naturally have people that you were gonna talk to. Are you gonna be the only person [00:24:00] your age? Possibly.
But why is that a problem? Maybe you are, but maybe everybody else that you're talking to is also really, really interesting. So.
Q and a episode. If you have a question about luxury cruising, um, I won't hold it for another q and a episode. I will read it right away on the podcast. And, um, once again, I just wanna thank you all for joining me, and until next time, I wish you safe and luxurious cruising.