Cruise breaks: The little touches that give a voyage extra class
Airlines have long offered first-class seating and access to executive lounges at airports. Now cruise companies are getting in on the act and giving holidaymakers private restaurants and deck spaces - if they are prepared to pay extra.
Cunard offer their Queens Grill and Princess Grill classes on the Queen Victoria and Queen Mary 2. Each class has a corresponding exclusive dining room and on the Queen Victoria these are reached by a private lift.
Cruise plus: A Balmoral suite on the QM2
The line's most luxurious suites are the Balmoral and Sandringham Grand Duplexes on the QM2, with a staircase to a second-floor bedroom. And when the Queen Elizabeth enters service next year, there will a private deck, lounge and restaurant for Queens Grill and Princess Grill guests.
Royal Caribbean guests booked into Grand Suites and higher-category staterooms are given a personal key to the Concierge Club. In this area they are served a continental breakfast every morning and pre-dinner cocktails every evening.
The lounge's concierge also helps with priority spa bookings, shore excursions and dinner reservations.
Obviously, such privileges do not come cheap - Royal Caribbean's Presidential Family Suite, which sleeps 14, costs £19,000 a week.
Several Norwegian Cruise Line ships offer 5,750 sq ft Garden Villas. These have a private terrace with a six-person hot tub, butler service and access to an exclusive Courtyard deck with private pool, whirlpools, gym and saunas.
MSC Cruises and Holland America Line also offer a private lounge for suite guests. This summer a VIP area called the MSC Yacht Club was introduced on board MSC Splendida. Guests can use a private swimming pool, hot tubs, sun deck and lounge, and are served high tea by a butler.
Similarly, Holland America Line offers guests staying in the Deluxe Verandah Suite and Penthouse Suites the use of the Neptune Lounge for breakfast, evening hors d'oeuvres and priority dinner reservations.
Carnival Cruise Line introduced spa staterooms and suites on the Carnival Splendor last year and they will also be available on the Carnival Dream from September. These rooms are adjacent to the Cloud 9 Spa, accessible by a private lift, and guests can enjoy priority spa appointments, complimentary fitness classes and unlimited access to the thalassotherapy pool.
Celebrity Cruises offers Aqua Class staterooms on its Solstice class vessels with unlimited access to the Aqua Spa and free use of the thalassotherapy pool.
But don't fret - there are some services offered to guests willing to pay extra on board. On Princess's recently refitted Grand class vessels, guests can pay about £6 per half-day to use the Sanctuary, a private deck at the front of the ship. This includes a plush towel and an extra-comfortable sun-lounger. Not having to fight for a lounger: priceless.
- Shocking new footage of ISIS massacre in Tikrit
- Appalachian Bear Rescue save black bear cub
- Solar cycle: The sun's 11-year heartbeat explained
- Horrifying moment slingshot ride cable SNAPS
- Mexico's Security Commissioner on Guzman's prison escape
- El Chapo' Guzman being taken into Altiplano prison (archive)
- Genesis Rodriguez Gomez collapses during a lift attempt
- Letterman comes out of retirement to roast Trump
- Shocking video shows driver barrel into four women
- Drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman escorted to prison by helicopter
- Nerve shedding moment surfer chases after great white shark
- Beach goer captures aftermath of beach explosion
- Paradise on earth! Galapagos voted best island in the world...
- Two flight attendants and a passenger taken to hospital...
- Barcelona residents say tourism is a bigger problem than...
- Come on in, the water's... somewhere: Thousands of Chinese...
- In-town boutique or beach retreat? Two very different takes...
- Rule, Britannia! Largest cruise ship ever built for UK...
- Eating live maggots, drinking muddy river water and fending...
- Thomas Cook pays £8,500 to four British holidaymakers after...
- Noteworthy dedication: Man quits 9 to 5 job to travel the...
- Wine and design: The quirky boutique vineyard in Chile that...
- Holidaymaker banned from morning flight and escorted out of...
- EasyJet flight from Newcastle to Spain is forced to make...