£92,000 cruise – Is That Really Worth It?

Currently the luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity is sailing through what was the impassable North West Passage and due to arrive in New York on September 17th.  The ship started her journey from Seward in Alaska on 16th August with approx 1000 passengers on board, and as it is a pioneering trip though some of the most remote Arctic regions these clients paid up to £92,000 per person plus had to purchase emergency evacuation insurance (£38,000) just to cruise there.

Wow, what a price they paid, is it worth it?  To start with the journey in itself is one of a kind.  This area has never been cruised before simply because of the ice, the ships could not get through! Now that most of the ice has melted, it has made it easier, however the ship is accompanied by a ice breaker, the RSS Ernest Shackleton a British supply and icebreaking vessel, just in case!   Of course going to a area of the world so rarely seen Crystal cruises have also had to take measures to protect the environmental impact of the area by not using heavy fuel oil and making sure that any waste water is only discharged at least 12 nautical miles from shore.

The beauty and wildlife in that area must be amazing from whale watching and polar bears in their natural environment, the amount of space and quiet is something I think not many of us will ever experience.

There is no doubt that the Crystal Serenity ship is luxurious, let’s face it for that amount of money it has to be!  I have been lucky enough to view one of them, the Symphony however I wasn’t that impressed – dare I say it!  This particular ship has luxury shops, restaurants, fitness centre, spa, has had a 25 million pound facelift and certainly sounds the business so maybe I am doing the ship a slight injustice!  I do remember thinking on the Symphony though that I had seen better in the likes of Seabourn, Regent and Hapag Lloyd.  The Serenity though does have it’s fans, comments from “out of this world,”  “luxury,” and “cosmopolitan” – they cant be wrong can they?

On a personal note, I do have my reservations on cruising in this area simply because of the environment concerns really but there is no getting away from the fact that yes this is a ground breaking cruise which will live in many peoples memories for a long time to come.

What’s your take on it?