S/V Lealea at anchor in Whale Bay, Baranof Island, Alaska
Posted on 10/19/2021 9:05:27 AM PDT by Capt. Tom
Over the last months, we have heard multiple cruise line executives mention the incredible popularity the companies are experiencing on bookings. It looks like those numbers are confirmed by a new survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report, so much so that the popularity of cruising is now surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
It’s not just veteran cruisers that have shown their interest in going back to sea as soon as possible. According to the survey, many people who have never cruised before expressed interest in taking their first-ever cruise.
In recent months the cruise industry has taken a leading role in offering guests the safest possible vacation, a strategy that shows to be paying off now.
Cruisers Are Itching to Get Back Out to Sea A website survey that ran over the last year and a half collected information from respondents over four different periods, January 2020, August 2020, June 2021, and August 2021.
A large part of the respondents had never cruised before, so this didn’t just allow the research to cover how interest in the industry evolved over the past 22 months but also makes comparisons between those who cruised before and those who never sailed possible.
One significant fact: over 25% of those surveyed have already booked a cruise, a number higher than pre-pandemic.
“The coronavirus pandemic has had an outsized effect on the travel industry, especially the cruise sector, and the public’s appetite for travel,” said Erin Evans, managing editor of Travel at U.S. News & World Report.“However, interest in cruising has barely wavered over the past year and a half, and veteran cruisers are itching to get back out on the water while many travelers are interested in taking their first cruise ever.”
The report also offers glimpses into the effect of the pandemic on the cruising industry, how people plan to book their trip, and what amenities, entertainment, and destinations are essential for those looking to take a cruise.
The Importance of Health and Safety Measures Although the popularity of cruises has been well documented over the last months, it boils down to two fundamental reasons. The importance that travelers place on health and safety measures and the accordion effect the pandemic has had on cruises.
The millions of people who had planned to take a cruise over the last 20 months are, for a large part, booking and rebooking their cruises right now, but that’s not all.
Among the respondents who had cruised before, and indicated in the survey they would likely cruise again, already 20 % are booked on their next cruise or have already taken that cruise. A number significantly higher than pre-pandemic.
Cruise Vaccine
People who have never cruised before are also booked on cruises in much higher numbers than before March 2020; in this same group, 61% have indicated an interest in going to sea for the first time.
But, these people do care about their safety on board and in the destinations they visit. More than 80% of those who had been onboard a cruise ship before say the vaccination mandate onboard cruise ships is important to them. Only 9% say they are against onboard vaccine policies.
It’s not all sunshine for the cruise lines. The number of people who would never cruise again did increase slightly from 2% in January 2020 to 4% in August 2021. Nonetheless, with the cruise industry receiving a vast amount of negative press early on in the pandemic, it seems the ships have managed to swing this around.
The cruise industry is now the industry that everyone looks at when they want to see how travel is done safely, and that is enough reason in itself to explain the popularity of cruising.
Cruise Lines still face the problems that stymied their past plans, and caused them to cancel and postpone future cruises.
These problems are beyond the control of the Cruise Lines.
For example; world ports coming up with cruise line restrictions. Country Medical Institutions restricting travel to and from, for people on any type of conveyance. Making a distinction between vaccinated and unvaccinated passengers. Having to rely on Airlines to get passengers to the ships. Also they will have to face as do us, inflation and economic problems causing cruise cancellations. Getting food supplies delivered to ships. Having to pay back the Billions of borrowed money , and paying for the new ships on order.
There are other world factors that might effect Cruising.
Based on the worlds problems I don't see anything above that is going to make for a rosier future for the Cruise Lines as the thread's poll and article implies. -Tom
I love cruising. However, I won’t cruise as long as there is a vax requirement or mask requirement.
I say this as a vax’d individual.
I will not contribute to a two- tiered society.
We need some kind of television show to display how fun and sexy with oodles of bikini clad women that Cruise Lines can be
A LOT of the cruise stops and ports DEPEND on the cruise passengers for their living!!!
Capt.—Please show me your vaxx papers before posting any more articles about cruises...
ok—and now I want proof that you have taken the flu shot....
ok—and where is your mask?
ok—and now proof you do not have AIDS....
Thanks—and now we need to check to make sure you have no criminal record....
Ok—and have you ever voted for a right wing extremist insurrectionist?
I can’t hear you—what was that?
Wha...stop mumbling—what are you saying?
Not our business? Prying into your personal life _is_ our business. Kinda slow aren’t ya.
;-)
Soon as I read the article title, I thought of Al Pacino.
/wrong kind of cruising
I began to try cruising in recent years and enjoyed the 3 cruises that I took. While I would love to book another cruise, I can’t imagine that it would be very much fun as long as there are mask requirements. I have no interest in booking a cruise until those go away.
Unfortunately the claimed vax is not a vax. It does not prevent you from getting the COVID. As Colin Powell. Oh wait never mind, he died of cancer. The vax wiped out his immune system.
“Mask up there swabbies. Mask up and cower down”
I agree with you, actually.
S/V Lealea at anchor in Whale Bay, Baranof Island, Alaska
That would be my way. A small private craft with a captain I guess.
It could be anchored in a bay for a while and the captain and whoever can come back later to sail to somewhere else.
In the meantime, give me the quiet and solitude.
My wife an I booked a cruise next may back in February. This is before the vax mandate.
If the mandate has not lifted by April we will cancel.
We are Double Whammied because we sail out of Vancouver and Canada requires you to have proof of vaccination to cross the border. I don’t think Canada has opened for air travel or cruises yet either.
If Canada has not lifted their restrictions, we will not be going.
Serving in the navy aboard a destroyer, I had my fill of cruises.
Mark me down as one of those people who cant imagine wanting to spend that much time trapped on a floating apartment building with shoddy air quality. I also find these ships a terrible eyesore.
Cabin cost reductions and other giveaways are now plentiful even in the 2022 departures.
Makes one wonder how they are going to have big economic successes, if cruisers shop around. -Tom
The article is very misleading. The cruise lines are having a really hard time filling their ships to more than 50% capacity despite offering very good prices.
I’m sure there are people who are not interested in FLYING to a cruise, which eliminates a lot of cruisers who may have even had the VAX.
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