Sponsored content on my social media pages invites readers to discover “small ship luxury cruising” on a “228-passenger 6-star luxury ship”. This makes my blood boil. Five-stars are the penultimate in rating service, accommodations and experiences. For food there are Michelin, Zagat and AAA. There is no 6-star rating. Not by any recognized rating regime.

When the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab opened in Dubai, it was called the world’s first seven-star hotel. When I asked about this rating, the former communications director told me, “Worldwide classification for hotel ratings does not go beyond the five-star rating. All of our Jumeirah hotels in Dubai are given their official ratings by the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. The history behind our being awarded a 7-star rating, was when we hosted a journalist on opening in 1999. In her article she noted one cannot recognize Burj Al Arab’s standards with 5-stars, that Burj Al Arab had to be the first 7-star luxury hotel in the world. That’s where it came from, but officially Burj Al Arab is a 5-star hotel.”

That seven-star description of the Burj Al Arab was the result of an over-exuberant writer and uninformed editor, and not something the resort promoted.

While the industry knows no such seven-star standard exists, that’s not inhibiting hotel developers in Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Iran, Pakistan and China from claiming six and seven stars for their new developments. Sorta sounds like someone in Washington.

Over the years some industry members have had fun with non-serious ratings. Like the LA-based travel company which launched a Karma Ratings system, based on a property’s philanthropy. Even they limited themselves to four ratings levels: “shoes on” (a basic place), “socks on” (“not dirty but not really ready for bare feet”), “socks off” (“clean and fresh”) and Everything Off (“for those special properties that make you want to get naked”).

Some may dismiss a “6-star” rating as a bit of fun hyperbole by an over-zealous PR person. But is it? It is deceptive because no such standard exists. In our litigious society doesn’t an agent or agency put itself at risk selling a product standard that isn’t recognized by the industry?

And what happens when a guest returns from the cruise and wants a full refund because they didn’t feel they received a six-star experience? With no recognized six-star standards, how can compensation be refused? And how much time will be eaten up on social media as a digital mob attacks your business over this bogus service level?

Promoting and selling a six-star experience is dishonest. This violates truth in advertising. It’s right up there with “ocean view”, when that view is only achieved by hanging over a balcony railing on a clear day. Claiming six stars debases the industry and those who have worked hard and invested to earn their stars.

While the images of the ship in question look fantastic, their newness makes me wonder if they earned a 5-star rating?

This over-selling cheapens the product and experience. It also does a disservice to a sector badly damaged by the pandemic.