Let's Crunch the Numbers - A Luxury Cruise Might Be More Affordable Than You Think

Luxury Cruises offer all inclusive pricing

I have been booking cruises for almost 25 years now and over that time the industry has changed a lot. Gone are the days when there were only a handful of ships and cruises were thought of as only for the newlywed and nearly dead. Now there is a cruise for everyone and every budget.

What you might not realize though is a Luxury Cruise could actually cost around the same as the Premium and Mass Market ships. It is very easy to just assume that the huge mega ships advertising a low rate are the best deal but when you add it all up you might be surprised. I decided to see if I could try my best to find a pretty equal comparison to use to price it all out and see how they stack up.

Comparing Mass Market, Premium, and Luxury Cruises

For this comparison I decided it would be best to stick within one Cruise Company so I chose the Royal Caribbean Group which consists of:

Mass Market - Royal Caribbean

Premium - Celebrity

Luxury - Silversea

I was able to find a 7 night Caribbean Cruise in February 2027 to compare on all the 3.

Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas (7600 guests) - 2/21/27 - 7 night Eastern Caribbean

Celebrity Xcel (3300 guests) - 2/21/27 - 7 night Eastern Caribbean

Silversea Silver Shadow (390 guests) - 2/26/27 - 7 night Eastern Caribbean

 I priced a Balcony room on each since most Luxury Ships only have Balcony rooms and Suites. I also included the lowest priced Suite on the Mass Market and Premium since that is the closest in size to the Luxury entry level room. The Luxury Lines generally are All Inclusive so I am adding in all of the extras that most people end up adding to their Mass Market or Premium cruise anyway. All rates are based on 2 adults.

Star of the Seas - Ocean View Balcony (204 sq ft) - Cruise Fare: $5900 + $1750 All In Package (Drinks, WIFI, Dining) + $259 (Tips) = $7909

 Lowest Priced Suite (322 sq ft) - Cruise Fare: $6700 + $1750 All In Package (Drinks, WIFI, Dining) + $294 (Tips) = $8744

Celebrity Xcel - Prime Veranda (201 sq ft) - Cruise Fare: $3600 + $3570 Premium Access (Drinks, WIFI, Dining) + $266 (Tips) = $7436

Lowest Priced Suite (298 sq ft) - Cruise Fare: $10,105 (Suites Include Drinks, WIFI, and Dining) + $322 (Tips) = $10,427

Silver Shadow - Classic Veranda (345 sq ft) - Cruise Fare: $9000 All Inclusive (Drinks, WIFI, Dining, Tips)

I chose to compare Caribbean Cruises since that tends to be where most people will cruise at some point and the itineraries tend to be the most similar. Generally the Mass Market ships focus on 7 night cruises and the Luxury Lines tend to have longer sailings so finding a 7 night on all 3 options wasn't easy. It is hard to really get an apples to apples comparison since the Mega ships cannot get into smaller ports that the Luxury ships will go to but they are all Eastern Caribbean in this comparison. Part of the appeal of the smaller ships are the better itineraries. The dollar amounts are not the only numbers to compare since the room size and number of guests onboard also vary quite a bit.

I know a Luxury Cruise might not be the right fit for everyone but I wanted to show the numbers in case you just assumed you couldn't afford a luxury cruise.