Just as your household expenses have been going up lately, it's costing more for the cruise lines to have you as their guest on their ships. It's costing more to keep you fed. It's costing more to build those fancy new ships that you love to cruise on. It's costing more for the fuel to shuttle you from port to port.

These increased expenses are a huge challenge for cruise lines because, due to intense competition, there is strong pressure to keep from raising the price of your vacation. Something has to give. The end result: small independent cruise lines are becoming an endangered species. These days, big is in and small is out.

There's an old maxim in economics called "economies of scale." For cruise operators, that translates into bigger ships costing less per passenger to operate. But what really gets cruise line owners salivating is this concept: Bigger cruise lines with lots of ships allow for lower operating costs per vessel.

Until recently, if you took a cruise through middle America on the Mississippi River, you did business with a different riverboat company than if you cruised the west's Columbia River. Not anymore. A company named Ambassadors International bought both of those small operations. Then it bought the three ocean-going Windstar sailing ships, a small niche formerly occupied by Holland America. Clearly, Ambassadors International believes that bigger is better.

A more recent example is the sale of the luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas. A privately held company headquartered in Minnesota built the cruise line from scratch starting in the early 1990s. It is a favorite of cruisers who are willing to spend more to travel on a smaller ship and appreciate having many onboard expenses included in the fare, even wine with dinner.

But Regent was a small operation with only three ships. The owners had no interest in spending the big bucks required to keep growing. With the declining value of the dollar in Europe, where most cruise ships are built, it takes mighty deep pockets to pay for a new ship. And these days, if your fleet of ships just keeps aging and you don't add some new ones, you are not going to be competitive.

Out of nowhere sprang Apollo Management LP, a multibillion-dollar private equity investment firm. It has suddenly become the third-largest owner of cruise brands in the country. It bought Regent Seven Seas outright. Prior to that, it became a majority stockholder of another small cruise line, Oceania. Apollo also bought 50 percent of NCL, a large but troubled cruise line. Clearly, Apollo believes that bigger is better.

Since Apollo came on the scene with a fat wallet, Oceania has ordered two new ships and Regent is expected to order a new vessel later this year.

Apollo's riches also meant two more megaships for NCL.

This pattern follows waves of earlier consolidation in the cruise industry. Perhaps you've agonized over competing ads for bargains on Alaska cruises from Princess and Holland America. Whichever one you choose, you'll make the same stockholders happy. The profit goes to the same parent company. Those two venerable cruise lines would not be able to keep their fares as low as they do and keep wowing you with new ships if it weren't for their big sugar daddy, Carnival Corp. Yup, the very people who own the Carnival "fun ships."

Economists may call it economies of scale. You and I just call it buying power. It seems to be working. Consolidation has kept cruise fares stable despite inflationary pressure. Perhaps most importantly, it ensures that you and I will still be fed in the manner we've become accustomed to on our cruise vacations.

Bring on the lobster!

— David Loe, President of Radio Cruises, has been organizing group cruises for Ventura County residents for more than 20 years. Contact him at David@RadioCruises.com.