Am I Now A Cruise Person?

I still don’t think I’m a cruise person. And yet we just booked our second cruise in five months.

For context, our favorite hotel in the world has 20 (twenty!) rooms. So a year ago, I’d have told you without ever having taken one that cruising wasn’t for me. I had more than a few preconceived notions about spending a week on a floating city with 4,000 other people. Reader, they weren’t positive ones.

But after finally letting our son talk us into taking a Disney cruise in May, I realized I’d gotten that wrong. My first surprise: the guest mix. I’d pictured mostly families with young children. There were kids, for sure. But we also found empty nesters, young couples, multi-generational families… and yes, more than a few Disney Adults.

Then there were the details I didn’t expect: Rotational dining is brilliant. Whoever invented split bathrooms deserves an award. The staffing ratio and fit & finish are high end. Even the Bourbon tasting impressed us.

Somewhere between Cozumel and Castaway Cay, my consumer brain gave way to my strategy brain. I realized Disney isn’t just delivering a great cruise. They’ve constructed the entire experience to make the decision to take the next one a foregone conclusion. That’s not luck; that’s architecture.

As someone who’s spent a career thinking about why customers say yes, I find that fascinating. After all, the best experiences aren’t designed only for today. They’re designed with the future in mind.

When our son recently proposed we join him and his family on another sailing this fall, we agreed immediately. I’m still not sure I’m a cruise person, but I may have to admit I’m wrong.