The McDonaldization thesis and cruise tourism

This paper explores the extent to which current trends within the cruiseship sector exemplify the five core principles that underpin the McDonaldization thesis. There are some ships that possess attributes consistent with the core principles: efficiency, calculability, predictability, control, and the "irrationality of rationality". However, these vessels also exhibit qualities that are, in certain ways, inconsistent with some of these principles. Risk and post-Fordist customization, for example, have influenced cruise tourism in ways that are sometimes difficult to reconcile with McDonaldization thesis. This paper demonstrates that this thesis does not adequately speak to the nature of production and consumption on board "supersized" cruiseships. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.