Cruise Outlook 2008

Despite the turmoil in travel affecting travel in general, the cruise industry appears to be fairly well positioned to ride out the energy costs storm, at least for awhile.

My colleagues in the cruise world, CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Association, have released their current assessment of the scene, and it is a rosier prognosis than that supplied by some other sectors in travel.

In 2007, 9.57 million Americans took a cruise.

Most of the business continues to go through professional travel agents, especially the 16,000 CLIA affiliates.  A traveler can buy a Southwest airline ticket online, no travel agent needed, but for a multi-thousand dollar cruise purchase, a local travel pro adds a major comfort level to the transaction.

One interesting demographic from this year's report is that the median age of cruisers continues to drop.  The average cruiser is now only 46, down from 49 in 2006.  The old perception that cruising was just for geriatrics is dying.  The number of kids on a typical cruise is also growing.

The Caribbean, followed by Alaska, and then Hawaii, Europe, and the Mediterranean/Greek Islands are the major places to cruise.

Nervousness about travel costs and disgust with the hassles of air travel are also a part of the success of cruising.  With about 30 embarkation points around the US, a lot of cruisers can get to an embarkation in their cars, and they like that freedom.  Once on the ship, of course, there are no more airline-style irritations to absorb during the vacation.