Brits love to cruise the figures prove it

New figures released by the Passenger Shipping Association show that there was an 11% increase in British cruise passengers in 2007 – bringing the total numbers of Brits taking a cruise in the year to 1.3 million. The cruise industry is capitalising on this record level of interest by launching new ships or bringing others, already in service, to home-port in British waters. New ships this year include Fred Olsen's Balmoral, P&O's Ventura, Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas, Cunard's Queen Victoria, Norwegian Cruise Line's Jade, Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Splendor and MSC's Armonia. There’s been an interesting change in the places Brits are cruising to, as well. While the Mediterranean held on to its top position with a 21% increase in visitors in 2007, the Caribbean ran it a close second with a 6% increase, and there was a huge jump in cruises to the Far East and Australia – up 51% on 2006.