| USA. Seabourn, Silversea & Lindblad rated top cruise lines in Luxury Institute Survey |
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| Tuesday, 29 August 2006 | |
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Cruising news: In a world of plentiful cruise line options, which brands do wealthy consumers rate the most luxurious? According to the 2006 Luxury Brand Status Index survey of Luxury Cruise Lines, conducted by the Luxury Institute, Seabourn was rated the most prestigious Cruise Line among its peers. Silversea was a close second, followed by last year's winner, Lindblad Expeditions. Crystal Cruises rounds out the "A List" of Luxury Cruise Lines. Regent, (formerly Radisson Seven Seas Cruises) also moved up in the rankings. Twenty brands were rated including: Carnival Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Clipper Cruise Lines, Costa Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Delta Queen Steamboat, Disney Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Lindblad Expeditions, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Orient Lines, Princess Cruises, Regent (formerly Radisson Seven Seas), Royal Caribbean, Seabourn Cruise Lines, Silversea Cruise Lines, Viking River Cruises, and Windstar Cruises. Seabourn received the strongest ratings in delivering consistently superior quality, and was rated the cruise line "most used by people who are admired and respected" by wealthy consumers. Silversea nearly matched Seabourn in uniqueness and exclusivity scores and in making the customer "feel special across the entire customer experience." No surprise then, that high net worth customers rated Seabourn and Silversea similarly as "worthy of a significant price premium." Interestingly, last year's winner, Lindblad, was rated highest in willingness to recommend the brand to people whom wealthy consumers care about most. Here is a sampling of what high net worth peers said about Seabourn: "Vessels are very exclusive, smaller, and very luxurious." "Very exclusive. Awesome service. Great attention to detail." "Luxury, luxury, luxury - but you pay for it!" "We live in a transparent world where the only 'expert' opinions that count are those of consumers, not pundits or reviewers," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. "Particularly in the cruise line industry we find most executives are open to a candid dialogue in the form of independently derived quantitative ratings from prospects and customers. Most cruise line executives understand that customer feedback is a gift that needs to be embraced and are committed to creating memorable one of a kind experiences for their customers. Those that do not will find that the "real new sheriff in town" are their customers, not shareholders, and the new weapon of choice for consumers, particularly the powerful wealthy, are objective and independent, validated customer reviews from an impartial entity." A nationally representative sample of 1,000 wealthy consumers was surveyed online. Respondents had an average household income of $616k and average net worth of $3.8m. Survey results are weighted to match the demographic and net worth profile of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve. |
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