Luxury Cruises

Cruising is big business, worldwide, with more than 16 million people a year taking an ocean or sea cruise and around 85% of passengers wanting to repeat the experience.

Quality Cruising

Whilst demand for ‘cheap ‘n cheerful’ style cruising continues to grow, marketing statistics also suggest that an increasing number of cruise clients are now looking for a more up-market experience. Cruise-lines such as Cunard, renowned worldwide for its tradition of grandeur and elegance that harks back to a more gracious era, or the five-star luxury cruise-line, Celebrity, are both obvious choices for the more discerning traveller.

Customer Demands

Luxury cruise ships, in general, have introduced a number of additional on-board options, in 2008, e.g. more flexible, gourmet dining choices, greater luxury accommodation options, enhanced enrichment programmes, better on-board spending opportunities, more imaginative shore excursions, etc.

Luxury Cruising News

Interesting developments in luxury cruises include:

 Boutique cruise ships: with an average capacity of between 50 and 200 passengers, boutique ships are this year’s big news on the up-market cruising scene. Sea Dream Yacht Clubs’ award winning 5-star ‘utterly exclusive’ Sea Dream I and Sea Dream II are leading examples of small-scale excellence at sea.
 Small, luxury cruise ships, river boats and barges: small, low-key luxury cruise ships are increasing in popularity; passengers anxious to avoid the ‘Butlins-at-sea’ style environment are turning instead to more understated, smaller cruise vessels.
 Child-free cruising: 2008 has seen an increase in demand for child-free cruise ships, e.g. P&O Cruises (Artemis and Arcadia); Saga Cruises (Spirit of Adventure); and Thomson Cruises (Calypso).
 Undiscovered ports of call: cruise ships that can reach those small ports of call, off the beaten nautical track, which bigger cruise vessels can’t reach are witnessing an upturn in bookings this season. The Yachts of Seabourn and Azamara, for example, specialise in deluxe cruises to unusual, ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ destinations.
 On-board spending opportunities: high-end, Luxury Cruises is currently reporting an increased consumer interest in on-board spending for items such as big-budget spa treatments, casino gambling, art auctions, extended shore excursions together with fine wine and à-la-carte restaurant dining, etc.
 Spa cruises: 2008 has seen an increase in demand for specialist spa-oriented cruises and all-inclusive spa/fitness cruise packages, in particular. Costa cruise-line, for example, offers a ‘spa resort at sea’ cruise aimed at the spa-cruising enthusiast.

How to Bag a Bargain Luxury Cruises

To an extent, ‘you get what you pay for’ when booking a cruise. But the savvy cruiser can increase the odds of finding a bargain by:

 searching online for a heavily discounted last-minute deal; huge percentage discounts on brochure prices are commonplace and you’ll be spoilt for choice; or
 merely specifying the accommodation category when booking and leaving the choice of cabin to the cruise company (a useful tactic if you’ve set your heart on a particular cruise or are tied to certain dates); that way you are more likely to receive an upgrade and a bargain to boot!

Useful Luxury Cruising Resources

 www.cruise.co.uk: (for an overview of the cruise scene and a comparison of the main cruise companies, deals, reviews, news, etc);
 www.cruisecritic.co.uk: (the world’s leading online resource for cruise reviews and updates).