The Cruise Line International Association is predicting the top cruise trends for 2017. Here’s what they’ve come up with.
1. Younger People Cruise
A recent study found that younger generations — including Millennials and Generation X — will embrace cruise travel more than ever before, rating it as better than land-based vacations, all-inclusive resorts, tours, vacation house rentals, or camping.
2. More People Will Use Travel Agents
According to the American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, consumer use of a travel agent increased nearly eighty percent from 2015 to 2016. Supporting this, CLIA is forecasting that travel agents will continue to be the matchmakers between travelers and cruise lines in 2017.
3. River Cruise Demand Increases
River cruises offer travelers a unique and intimate travel experience. If you want to sample a river cruise without the price, check out River Cruise Radio, a weekly podcast dedicated to the world of river cruising.
4. More Private Islands on Cruise Itineraries
As more cruise lines introduce private island destinations, travelers are responding and booking these itineraries. Cruise guests just can’t get enough of Carnival’s Half Moon Cay. In 2017, cruise lines offer ports on a total of seven private islands. To add to the list, Norwegian’s Great Harvest Caye recently opened off the coast of Belize.
5. New Cruisers Will Take to the Sea
Interest in ocean cruising is projected to remain strong in 2017. When asked what kind of vacations might be of interest in the next three years nearly half of non-cruisers expressed interest in taking an ocean cruise while 85 percent of cruisers also expressed interest.
6. People Will Drive to Ports
The cruise industry offers a variety of small and large market port location options across the United States and internationally. Citing the advantages of a myriad of locations seven out of ten (69 percent) non-cruisers believe the greatest benefit is cost savings and three-quarters (74 percent) of cruisers like the convenience of driving to a cruise ship.
7. Continuing the Celeb Chef Theme
Cruise travelers are embracing specialty dining and will continue to consider cruise dining experiences based upon celebrity chefs. This year, several cruise lines feature restaurants and dishes created by famous chefs including Guy Fieri, Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa and Roy Yamaguchi.
What cruise trends are you seeing that aren’t on their list? Let us know below.
Source: CLIA
