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Like an officer on the bridge, CLIA keeps close track of cruising trends. And well it should, as the organization that represents 32 member lines and 22,000 travel agency affiliates who collectively serve 97 percent of American and Canadian cruise passengers. Young at Heart. Just who's on shipboard these days? "A new kind of cruiser is emerging &endash; younger, with a more moderate income," says CLlA's Godsman. One of every two passengers, in fact, is under age 45, with a household income of approximately $60,000. Plenty of passengers are still the well-traveled and retired seagoers who gave cruising its original image of a Gatsby aristocracy moving about on yachts. But today, with the finest leisure-time activities within easy reach of most consumers, it's no wonder that cruising is a magnet for the younger crowd. You name it there's a cruise for everyone. The perceived value built into a cruise is a major lure. The vast majority of new cruisers think their experience was a "good value," according to a CLIA profile of passengers. Who's Who. Is there just one basic type of vacationer who loves cruising? No, not at all. Your shipmates represent a cross section of North America: a young couple from Minneapolis who cruised the Mexican "Riviera," a recently retired couple from Seattle who liked what the brochures said about seeing the glaciers, brown bears and Indian cultures of the Pacific Northwest, an assistant professor from Dallas who wants to visit&emdash;again&emdash;the Mediterranean ports he saw 20 years ago as a backpacker. Take a closer look, with CLlA's studies in hand, and here's the cruise mix:
Customized Cruising. Shop today's cruise market and you will find as many options as you can imagine. To get the most for your money, customize your cruise vacation to fit your personal needs. "Today's cruise prospects have over 115 ships and 5,400 cruises from which to choose&emdash;literally one to fit every taste and budget," says CLIA's Godsman. There are theme cruises, for example, featuring top jazz artists. Singles cruises with a live-it-up ambience. Soft-adventure cruises&emdash;up the Amazon, down to New Zealand, along the Algarve and Costa del Sol, in and out of Monaco, Portofino and Mykonos. Cruises to Alaska's glaciers or scuba cruises to islands where you can explore the rainbow underworld of fish and coral. Family cruises with a day of water sports and barbecues on a private island. Stop at exotic ports of call and you can play adventurer with a walk through the tropical equatorial ecosystem of Costa Rica or explore the pristine splendor of Antarctica's penguin rookeries and surrealistic landscapes. Among other options: exploring the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu in the Andes or the Nile's tombs of King Tut. When you seek advice on what cruise to take, find a CLIA affiliated travel agency and here's what you might hear. "You should first decide what type of vacation you want," the consultant would likely say. "A busy executive looking for privacy and relaxation? A gourmet who subscribes to three food magazines? A weight-watcher out for action every day? A socializer who thrives on parties, dancing and good talk?" "There's a ship out there just for you," the consultant would advise. "The best deal is to help me understand your lifestyle and match you up with the right ship. Let me tell you which ones are tailored to your tastes." The Cruise Flotilla. With no two cruise ships exactly alike-even sister ships may vary, one opulent the other high-tech-you have to decide what suits your style and pocketbook. Here is just a mere capsule picture of what you'll find in the cruising department store, Luxury: Outside cabins, spacious rooms, expensive woods, brass fittings, bathtubs with showers, spit and polish service-you're in a clubby atmosphere on a luxury ship. The staff is waiting to serve you . . . to answer your every question, guiding you as though you had a personal concierge, The kitchen produces excellent cuisine and may even cook to order &endash; maybe a fish caught in local waters. Shipboard life is dressy &endash; or, as the British say, smart casual. If it's a yacht-style ship you're on. there may be just over a hundred passengers aboard. The larger luxury ships offer a range of activities and dining options. And what's luxury without champagne and caviar? It's a to-die-for experience you won't forget. Premium: In the "premium" fleet your ship may be a floating showcase of, say, Indonesian art or chic Milanese furniture Your cabin-or suite-has that tenderloving-care look complete with extras like panoramic windows, sparkling decor, comfortable bath, cabin verandas, ample closets and a well-positioned television set. Some cruise lines even have a celebrity chef supervising the gastronomical proceedings. Your ship is large enough to offer a field day of activities, from classes in aqua-aerobic and "jazzercize" to a tennis clinic and massage therapy. To help make the switch from health to hedonism, there's a casino, a movie theater and an assortment of lounges in unlikely nooks, crannies and perches-just great for small (or romantic) talk. Contemporary: Here come the mega ships-the 70,000 plus-tonners that rival or outstrip in size the famous ocean liners of the past. Not all the ships in the "contemporary" or mass market category are enormous. But the giants make the headlines ; partly because of their spectacular virtuosity. These ships have enough heft to provide a full-scale play around for a vast range of leisure activities, yet enough privacy to provide the personal contentment that a sea voyage should induce. Exotic pools, bistros and bars, a dozen decks, glittering atriums &endash; you're in a movable mall with as much entertainment as you want and as much escape as your vacation persona needs. Specialty/Adventure Cruises : While the oceans and seas seem to stretch to infinity. inviting escape beyond compare, rivers are eye-openers, their banks a moving picture of life as it was and is. That's why '90s cruisers, on a learning as well as leisure kick, are booking riverboat cruises in record numbers. To satisfy this appetite, cruise lines are running graceful, comfortable boats up and down the historic rivers of Europe. One sails the Rhine, with four distinctive itineraries, Another cruise the Rhone trough the vineyards of Burgundy and mellow landscapes of Provence. And other riverboats do the Danube and the Elbe, pausing at some of Europe's most charming cities, villages and cultural centers along the way. Right at home, legendary paddle wheelers are floating platforms for seeing the historic Mississippi and its tributaries. In song, food and trappings they celebrate America's heartland with stops at river ports from New Orleans to St. Paul. Old-fashioned the steamboats may be, but your diversions include shore visits to Civil War battlefields and antebellum mansions as well as great American cuisine! Some of the most enticing specialty cruises are off the beaten sea lanes, with unusual itineraries worth investigating. See Hawaii's necklace of islands. Sail through the Bosporus for a swing around the Black Sea. Tangiers? Dakar? Cape Town, with a side trip to South Africa's wineries? Spend a clay at Perth, the frontier port of Australia. Bali is within easy cruise reach. Or study the surviving species on a Darwinian cruise through the Galapagos. Pick your destination. There's surely a cruise just for you.
Cruise Vacations, Inc.®
Last up date 7/31/02 |
