sustainability Article A Qualitative Review of Cruise Service Quality: Case Studies from Asia Yeohyun Yoon 1 and Kyoung Cheon Cha 2,* 1 School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Youngsan University, Busan 48015, Korea;
[email protected] 2 Department of Business Administration, Dong-A University, Busan 49236, Korea * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 2 September 2020; Accepted: 29 September 2020; Published: 30 September 2020 Abstract: Although the cruise sector is considered an ‘unreplaceable’ form of tourism, with the cruise industry recording steady growth over the years, there is a lack of research and analysis on cruise ships themselves. Accordingly, this study sought to determine whether service quality differences among ships operating in the Asian market could suggest broader implications for the sustainability of the cruise industry. We chose the SERVQUAL framework for the analysis; we also employed the multiple case study method and topic synthesis to compare the service quality of three ships. Of the ships investigated—the Costa Victoria, Diamond Princess, and Superstar Virgo—the Diamond Princess had the highest service quality. Based on the results, we outlined suggestions for improving the quality of cruise services, including introducing the latest large ships and high-tech facilities, complying with the departure and arrival times of sailing schedules, improving the ratio of crew members per passenger, establishing a cruise personnel training system, and expanding membership program operations. Keywords: cruise; service quality; SERVQUAL; onboard attributes 1. Introduction Cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism segments, and it has undergone significant transformation, especially in the last few decades [1,2].