A Luxury Liner Loses its Luster

The Insight

Two years ago, Virgin Voyages’ first cruise ship, the “Scarlet Lady”, took its maiden voyage. Richard Branson’s cruise line made a big bet on upscale design and instagramable luxury, targeting the adults-only cruise guest demographic. 

Two years later, the average star rating of the Scarlet Lady has declined precipitously from a peak of 4.6 stars to a nadir of 3.9 stars. 

So what explains this decline? 

Surprisingly, the two most dramatic declines in customer sentiment this year stem from spotty WiFi and uncomfortable seating! Here we see the perfect example of “concept” not meeting practical customer needs. The ship boasts “free WiFi for all”, which is also necessary to access the cruise amenity app. However, guests find the WiFi slow and unreliable, especially if they need to make calls for work. 

The Takeaway

As pent up demand for travel revitalizes a previously battered hospitality industry, the rising tide is lifting all industry players from airlines to hotels to cruise lines. But as we’ve seen time and time again, customers are intelligent and particular with their needs. Resting on the laurels of a strong product (or even a ship) launch is not enough when the business cycle starts contracting. 

Brands must adapt or die - and sometimes adapting means replacing your modern IKEA-esque womb chair with something less “awkward and uncomfortable” (as one reviewer put it). One of the easiest ways that the hospitality industry can track their customer satisfaction in real time is via customer reviews on sites like TripAdvisor and Expedia.