Trans RINA, Vol 157, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan - Dec 2015
enable the possibility to visit exotic destinations comfortably and safely.
Building on ANT, we suggest here that the tasks or aims that bring human and non-human actors together can be seen as translations that are beneficial sources of characterising the cruise experience and the involved actors. Furthermore, when the cruise experience is analysed from the ANT perspective, the process may reveal seemingly insignificant or unrelieved actors, which are active binders, which establish cruising order and therefore become valuable
sources
recommendations for cruise experience design. 3.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Data for this paper was collected through cruise ship passenger interviews and
participatory observations
during a one-week cruise in the Mediterranean. Since the aim of the data collection was to gather passengers’ narratives about their cruise experiences, a research approach that drew on interviews and observations was considered as an ideal foundation for
research
methodology at hand. Furthermore, the selected data collecting method goes hand in hand with the ANT principle of understanding of what is going on, what should be of interest, or simply attended to [39].
3.1 INTERVIEWS
The exploration of subjective interpretations and meanings is central when studying human experiences and therefore interviews were conducted as interviewees have first-hand experience with the topic of interest [5, 47]. In order to gather interpretations of real experiences
Name Nationality Gender Age A FIN M 32 Occupation Designer B FIN F 24 Student C CHI F 26 D GER F 22 Student Model of
in a real environment with real passengers, data was collected in an authentic environment on the cruise ship MSC Sinfonia in summer 2012. This was a typical mid- sized cruise ship sailing in Europe. The data gathering process and
according to the authors’ previous experience on cruise ships. Interviewees
focus of the were
interviews was planned sourced through informal
discussions with fellow passengers and the interview was then scheduled for suitable moment. All interviews were voluntary and participants were informed about the interview aims, and that the data would only be used anonymously for scientific purposes.
Total of eight unstructured interviews were conducted (50% male, mean age= 37.4). Five out of the eight participants were first time cruisers. According to the Cruise Lines International
Association (CLIA) the
average age of cruisers is 49 and 25% of the cruisers are in the 30-39 age group [14] Although, our sample equates well with the expected average passenger it must be noted that our sample is not restricted to one category of passengers, but represents eight different types of passengers. This
approach was chosen since the
informality of the method gave a more varied insight, and thus helped in tracing the extensive set of actors and their connections [12]. Furthermore, the unstructured interview method allowed information from
the discovery of reliable their personal experiences [8].
Although an unstructured interview method was used, the interviewer encouraged the participants to discuss their cruise experience and the ship environment. The interviews, which lasted 30 minutes on average were recorded and resulted in 54 pages of transcribed data. The background of the participants of detailed in Table 1.
the study is E GER M 22 Police F AUS F 53 Official G AUS M 59
Photo- grapher
H GB M 61 Writer
Interview location
Nightclu b
Library
Shopping area
Lounge Table 1: Selected demographic information of the participants
Lounge
Reception
Bar
Bar
© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects
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