British prefer to cruise from home

Gill’s Cruise Centre has been monitoring the number of British people taking cruises that depart from the UK rather than flying out to meet their cruise ship.

They say that there has been a 20% rise in the number of people choosing a cruise that starts in the UK and that 67% of their customers are taking UK departing cruises. This is a trend that has been seen across the cruise line industry, 531,000 British people chose to start and finish their cruises from a UK in 2008, an increase of 20% on the previous year. There was only a 4% increase in British passengers opting to fly-cruise in the same period.

The reasons give include the cost – many cruises starting from the UK sail on sterling rates which means cruise passengers avoid the damaging rate of exchange with the Euro, convenience – with industrial action and other problems at airports encouraging many to avoid the fly-cruise option, and comfort – no being crammed into budget airlines seats and no limit on the amount of luggage you can take with you. The choice is growing too – as more Brits prefer to sail from home, more cruise lines are home-porting in the UK, cruise travellers can now select from UK based cruises offered by Cunard, Fred Olsen, MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean International.