Cruise trends to watch in 2010

When planning a cruise in 2010 you might want to think about the following changes in the cruise industry that will help you obtain the cruise of your dreams:

1. Last minute cruises are rising in popularity. A survey conducted by American Express in November 2009 revealed that nearly 80% of American customers are making last-minute bookings to get the best possible deal – British customers are likely to be doing the same for as long as the cruise companies continue to discount prices so massively as the time to sailing reduces.

2. Lower cruise fares will continue Many cruise lines have forecast that fares will remain the same, or only increase very slightly in 2010. While bookings are still strong, prices haven’t increased in the past year and it’s expected to take several years for the industry to rise to anywhere near the peak in prices seen in 2007. The cheapest fares are still Mexican cruises in the USA and Eastern European and Mediterranean cruises in the UK.

3. Fewer Alaskan cruises means more capacity elsewhere Increases in prices in the region, tougher environmental rules, plus a new tax levied by Canada on every passenger to the area, has seen a large drop in the number of cruise ships sailing to Alaska. An Alaska-based newspaper has estimated that 140,000 fewer cruise passengers will sail to the region next year and this means that prices will not drop as much as in other regions simply because the capacity is so reduced.

4. Bigger ships mean more choice Cruise companies are launching ever bigger ships –NCL, Celebrity and RCL will all have new mega-ships launching in 12 – 18 months. The trend towards bigger ships will drive down prices because of the competition to fill such huge vessels but will also mean that there will be more specialist holidays on the smaller ships as they try to hold onto a niche market that values personal service over lots of activities and facilities.