The Luxury Ship Index Score is a structured editorial tool. It is not an absolute measure of quality. Its job is to translate a ship's specifications, calculated ratios and design indicators into a single, transparent number — with every component visible alongside the total.
The Luxury Ship Index Score is a weighted average of seven 0–100 component scores: space per guest (25), crew-to-guest service density (20), suite exclusivity (15), ship age and refit status (10), public-space design (10), dining and amenity density (10) and technical sophistication (10). Components are clamped to 0–100 via piecewise-linear thresholds, normalised inside peer groups and aggregated into a total from 0 to 100.
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Space per guest | 25 |
| Crew-to-guest service density | 20 |
| Suite exclusivity | 15 |
| Ship age / refit status | 10 |
| Public-space design | 10 |
| Dining and amenity density | 10 |
| Technical sophistication | 10 |
Inputs. Gross tonnage divided by guest capacity (double-occupancy basis).
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 30 GT per guest; component score 100 at 100 GT per guest. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. GT measures internal volume, not usable passenger floor area.
Inputs. Crew count per 100 guests.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 35 crew per 100 guests; component score 100 at 90 crew per 100 guests. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. Numbers do not prove service culture, training or consistency.
Inputs. Suites per 100 guests on a double-occupancy basis.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 15 suites per 100 guests; component score 100 at 50 suites per 100 guests (all-suite, double occupancy). Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. On double-occupancy ships an all-suite vessel sits at ~50 per 100 guests, not 100.
Inputs. Effective age, with the most recent major refit year resetting the clock.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 15 years since launch / refit; component score 100 at 0–2 years since launch / refit. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. Newer is not automatically better; the score reflects modernisation, not absolute quality.
Inputs. Weighted blend of dining venue count, bars and lounges, and pools, normalised to luxury benchmarks.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 4 weighted units; component score 100 at 18 weighted units. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. Heuristic from venue counts; refined later with deck-plan analysis.
Inputs. Dining venues per 100 guests, with bonuses for spa presence and >3 bars.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at 0.5 venues per 100 guests; component score 100 at 1.5 venues per 100 guests. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. More is not automatically better; the question is whether the offering matches ship size and brand promise.
Inputs. Fuel type, propulsion summary, shore-power capability, polar class and classification society.
Thresholds. Component score 0 at Baseline (40) for any modern ship; component score 100 at Bonuses stack for LNG/hybrid/battery (+20), shore power (+15), polar class (+15), classification society (+10) and azipod/electric/hybrid propulsion summary (+10).. Linear in between, clamped outside.
Caveat. Confidence is high only when at least four signals are known; otherwise medium or low.
| Score | Label |
|---|---|
| 90–100 | Exceptional luxury vessel |
| 80–89 | Strong luxury vessel |
| 70–79 | Credible luxury vessel |
| 60–69 | Luxury-adjacent or uneven |
| Below 60 | Not recommended for core index inclusion |
Each component carries its own confidence (high / medium / low). The article-level confidence is the worst component confidence — a single missing technical signal will not pull the total down to a "low" banner unless the underlying input is materially absent. When a score relies on missing inputs, the profile says so explicitly.
Ranking pages must show both the raw metric and the score. We do not publish a black-box score. Comparisons must compare ships from the same peer group; cross-peer rankings are permitted only when the methodology page explicitly justifies it.
The Luxury Ship Index Score is editorial. The thresholds documented above are a v1 calibration based on benchmarks visible at launch, and will be revised as the dataset grows. Score changes that affect meaning are logged in the relevant article's changelog per the corrections policy.
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