What can the flight industry learn from the cruise industry and vice versa?

Royal Caribbean have for a while now had their virtual balcony inside cabins which give you a view of the outside of the ship from your inside cabin.

It now comes to pass that planes designers have taken on the idea of this for air transport.

When you think about it its a pretty good idea as the weakest part of the plane body would be the windows and they are probably one of the most intricate and expensive parts to construct of this vital part of the plane.

One of the major things it would also do is positively effect the aerodynamic features of the plane therefore in the long run making journeys longer and fuel less efficient. So certainly from a fuel cost point of view its no surprise that Emirates have introduced the technology in their planes (in first class aisle seats only at present) and may look to move production towards this in future stating “The aircraft are lighter, the aircraft could fly faster, they’ll burn far less fuel and fly higher”.

So those are the good parts what about the bad, well for me I can’t really see the downside as this idea gives the potential for quicker travel which for someone who goes to New Zealand regularly is fantastic. It would however be a shame to lose the authenticity of a proper window and knowing exactly what is going on outside the plane at any given time but that said there’s no reason to suppose that that couldn’t still be overcome with technology and even improved?

What other things could cruise lines and airlines swap notes on?…

Chaffeur drive service for certain cabins grades and experiences – Emirates & some other airlines offer a chauffeur drive pickup from home on business & first fares. Wouldn’t it be great if travelling from Southampton that certain cabin grades would include this service as added value? Grills on Cunard for example, shouldn’t that come with the cost?….

Security and check in – Its always been a bit of a wonder for me going to Southampton port the ease and relative calm about going through security there. It is far more civilized than almost any airport I’ve been to. You are still getting a  relatively high number of people through the system in quite a short space of time so how do they do it? It could just be to do with risk as arguably security doesn’t need to be as tight at cruise port as it does for people getting on a plane but maybe there are lessons to be learnt?

Check in at point of entry – Wouldn’t it be great if you could check in at your cruise port and send your luggage on to the airport? This arrangement does exist as a paid thing at some ports (no free ones as far as I know). but wouldn’t it be great after a cruise with a day to spare to be able to just get that bit done at the port and get rid of your bags? Hong Kong has that arrangement at their MTR metro stations albeit with certain airlines that you can just check in there and send you bags on. In fact this is one that airports and ports could unify in both directions….

Food – Airlines could certainly learn from cruiselines to some extent. Cruiseline food is more or less factory produced on most standard cruise ships so there is no reason why airlines couldn’t follow the lead on this apart from better quality ingredients which involves cost (I can tell you this having worked in a commercial kitchen and having visited a cruise galley and seen the workings). Buffet would be a no no I think, due to the hygiene reasons which effect some cruise ships. That said some airline food can be ok, Singapore airlines & Emirates for example but it can also be very very bad, Lufthansa I’m looking at you….

I guess the main difference between the two forms of travel makes the point of difference in what you get. A flight is mainly to get you a to b whereas a cruise is essentially THE destination.

So all in all most cruisers wouldn’t swap with airline food I think it would be safe to say but a chauffeur drive service, why not….

Happy cruising and flying and a Merry christmas!