b'OPERATIONSCMI LeisurePushing QualityWe know our guests more than ever. We try to anticipate. Our services should not be reactive. Its staged and its anticipative.he said. The onboard experience was like a basecamp. For our guests, were moving from a basecamp to more luxury camping.Providing that luxury product in any circumstance is difficultmore so at extreme latitudes.LifestyleCMI Leisure manages ten ships, of which eight are expedition and five are luxury/ultra-luxury.Its a blend of providing the intimate, small ship experience with the accommodations and options modern cruisers have come to expect.These guests not only need to feel they are getting their mon-eys worth for the ticket price, they also have a higher expecta-tions of comfort and charm in their daily life than the average cruiser. So you have to at least match their private lifestyle, he Dietmar Wertanzl, president and CEO said. Nobody wants to go to the same restaurant every night. Cabins and bathrooms got bigger in the luxury and ultra-luxury segment. Quality is, semantically, a big word. But quality means, W hat we once knew as the luxury and ultra-luxury market hascomparatively, everything the guests touch onboardbe it the changed drastically in recent years. This rarified segmentupholstery, the hardware, the linen, the china, the glassware, has both grown to larger ships, but also crept into the expeditionthe uniforms. Everything they see has to be a certain higher market, fleeing any association with the mass market ships. Theperceived quality feeling.most striking change is in true ends-of-the-Earth cruising, saidHe concentrates on soft touches guests will notice, linens Dietmar Wertanzl, president and CEO of CMI Leisure.in bathrooms, napkins, tissues, and amenities like soaps and Much like the modern African safari rugged accommoda- lotions. Packaging and presentation is important, from the bread tions has transformed into high-touch comfort. I call it oceanbasket and menu paper to the laundry return bag. Everything safaris, Wertanzl said.needs to be thought through. Every detail needs to create a The trend is everybody wants to up the quality, particularlypositive experience.in the small-ship expedition market. Historically, when this seg- For each new ship they work with, CMI goes through an ment started, it was all about old tonnage. They were Russianextensive examination of what service and amenities are right icebreakers, basically. It was all a destination driven segment,for the brand.24Cruise Industry News: MHA 35 thAnniversary'