Time for quality & experience to triumph over cost?

I have spent pretty much my entire career in the travel industry starting in leisure with Thomas Cook moving to corporate travel with Amex and now with CTI, sprinkled with a long spell spent at airlines, such as British Airways & Etihad. I have been extremely fortunate to have worked for some outstanding brands throughout my career with quality, experience and professionalism being the recurring theme for every brand I have worked for. Of course the world of travel has changed immeasurably, mostly for the better, in the 30 odd years since I began my career but I feel saddened that the romance and excitement has been overridden by the need to deliver to seemingly lower costs at every opportunity.

I am lucky enough to soon be heading off on a Celebrity Cruise, a brand & product I have used before, one that I like and one that offers a quality of product that suits me as an individual. Clearly they are not the most expensive of cruise lines but equally they are not the cheapest either . Which is why it puzzles me that the documentation I have just received, shown in the photo, is a self print out of my itinerary and worse still an origami baggage label for me to fold, create and staple around my suitcase. How much is having self documentation really saving on the price of my cruise and what longer term brand impact will it leave me with? I remember the days when receiving the tickets before a holiday was very much part of the experience, it meant the holiday was almost here and it was time to let the excitement begin. It didn't matter if it was a shiny cardboard Instasun wallet or a Rankin Kuhn leather bound example, for the recipient it marked the start of the holiday.

If it is really too expensive to produce such documents I am equally puzzled why companies don't offer "proper" pre trip documentation as an ancillary option? It could offer the company a little extra margin, I would willingly pay an additional £20 to get a beautifully presented ticket wallet posted to my home, and offer the client the choice to build the overall experience.

Of course Its not just the cruise companies choosing this route, pretty much the whole industry offers the paperless & soulless, pre trip documentation. Yet I want the excitement, I want the memories and I want to feel valued at every touch point. Travel, whether for pleasure or business is a privilege, its exciting and its an experience, so why not make pre trip documentation real again, after all retro is all the rage?

Quality & experience over cost? Absolutely yes in my opinion or am I just reinforcing my dinosaur status?