Anyone with a riff raff comment has never been on a truly AI cruise. We've been on all of one and had another booked before Covid hit and the line (Crystal) went under. There is no service on earth like that of an AI ship. The passenger to crew ratio is more like 3-1 than 50-1, or whatever it is on a family cruise line.
I won't bother going into all the differences I noticed on my single week-long fancy cruise, but it is a really wonderful experience and worth the cost. If you never do it again, you can at least say you were treated like royalty for a few days. I'm so sad to see Crystal go. It was an affordable experience for us, though it sure isn't for everyone.
I've been looking at other luxury lines to see what we can/want to afford and the prices are pretty far out there. I think I'd rather put the money into a new car. lol Still, this type of cruise will forever be on our radar and if I see something on RSSC, Seabourn or Silversea that piques our interest, I'l book it with only a moderate cringe of financial hesitation. It's a big $$$ step, that's for sure, but it was absolutely worth it to us.
P.S. We have sailed on Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland and Crystal. We have a Celebrity cruise booked for this December. We used to sail exclusively on Carnival. Now we're excited to play the field and try anything new.