Set Sail with Ritzer

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       Niya here: Last summer I was fortunate enough to win an ell expensive paid cruise vacations. This indescribable seven day cruise was the ultimate reward of a day spent in my dorm room, procrastinating the impending doom of finals, watching hours of reality television, and signing up for silly contest. While there was a three-month period between the time I was informed I had won, and the actual cruise this in way prepared me for things I was about to experience. The entire experience it seems can best be defined with the idea of phantasmagoria. The ship, Freedom of the Seas, had fifteen decks filled with every amenities imaginable including ice skating rinks, day spas, a screening room, and its own theater could easily be described as “a cornucopia of goods and services that offer the possibility of exciting and satisfying peoples wildest fantasies” (Ritzer 64).

        The ship, which gave each passenger the notion that anything was possible, remained active with surprises and excitement around each corner. From, the row of shops which remained open through the greater part of the night, the endless amounts of food and alcohol, to the full size vehicle places on display in various spots along the main promenade there was never a limit to the way in which they attempted to fascinate the passengers. While reading the George Ritzer's Enchanting a Disenchanted World, almost every point he argued seemed to directly apply to the cruise industry. Of the five essential elements of rationalization mentioned: efficiency, calculability, predictability, control by use of non-human technology, and the irrationality of rationality, each one is seen throughout every process, which kept my trip “magical”.

        While I did not think of it at the time, I cannot imagine how such a large ship could achieve such a feat while harboring a full capacity of passengers, a staff of chefs, maintenance workers, wait staff, concierge personnel, and entertainment would be possible without extreme rationalization. The men and women employed by the cruise line do not encounter to the glitz and glamour the passengers are shown. Their work begins when the first passenger boards and does not end until each one has departed. This may seem like only a week long adventure, but in reality, many members of the staff work months at a time with their only time off being a few hours in between departures. These workers, nearly invisible to me in my time working seem to occupy a hidden space in which the magic of enchantment meets the realities of disenchantment.

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        After reading the work by Ritzer, I have a very different view of my vacation. For my family what may have been a unique and enchanting experience, for those responsible for my time there was “no room for anything smacking of enchantment” (89). The magic behind my experience has great deal to do with the amount of unseen work completed by the workers. While the memory with remain enchanted, I however, now consider myself a member of the disillusioned.