Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2022 May 12

= May 12 =

$300,000 per berth
What does this sentence mean in the article Queen Mary 2?
 * Queen Mary 2 was intended for regular scheduled crossings of the Atlantic Ocean; the final cost was approximately $300,000 per berth.

Does it mean that tickets to a scheduled crossing cost $300,000 per individual cabin? If so, how can the price be that high? I just had a look at the ship's official website and saw that tickets to a transatlantic cruise start at £742 per person, which is far more reasonable. Or if the sentence does not mean that, what does it mean then? J I P &#124; Talk 12:31, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Cost to build divided by amount of rooms = cost per berth (to build) = 300,000 is what I think they're trying to say. Nanonic (talk) 12:37, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * So it's more like the cost of the berth itself, rather than for a ticket to use the berth? J I P  &#124; Talk 12:39, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Yep, have checked the source and that's what they mean. Suppose it's useful to find out how many sailings you'll have to do to make a profit. Nanonic (talk) 12:40, 12 May 2022 (UTC)
 * (EC) It seems from reading our article this is referring to the construction and checking out the source confirms this. I don't know if it's a normal way to describe the cost of an ocean liner. But in any case even considering the added running costs, it shouldn't be surprising that the owners don't expect to make their initial outlay back with one ticket or even 10 so the difference between the cost of a single ticket and the construction cost shouldn't be that surprising. Nil Einne (talk) 12:41, 12 May 2022 (UTC)


 * Thinking in terms of Unit cost and Payback period. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:09, 14 May 2022 (UTC)


 * I have amended "cost per berth" to "construction cost per berth", which hopefully will clarify.
 * BTW, prices for a transatlantic crossing on QM2 start at £1,400 ($1,660) for 7 nights, (about $240 per night) so it might take 1,250 nights or about 3½ years to recoup costs, if you exclude running and catering expenses and never have vacancies. Alansplodge (talk) 15:20, 18 May 2022 (UTC)