Destination is the most important factor to cruisers

A survey has found that 49% of people booking a cruise holiday said that the most important factor is a ship’s port of calls.

The survey was conducted on behalf of Travel Weekly and indicates that for holidaymakers the most important consideration they make when booking their cruise is where in the world the ship will visit. The second most important factor was deemed to be the overall cost of the cruise, with 15% of people choosing this as the most important factor.

It came as a surprise that discounts and special offers made little impact on the choices holidaymakers made when booking their cruise, with only 3% stating it was a factor, while 25% claimed discounts were least important to them.

Service was an important consideration to 13% of cruisers whilst only 7% make the choice based on the ship, with only 5% choosing according to a specific cruise operator.

As always with holidaymakers, tipping is a sensitive matter and two thirds of Britons said that they would prefer to tip the staff that had impressed them during their cruise rather than be made to pay an automatic tip added to the total cost of the cruise or at the end of the holiday.

Cruise ship staff will be pleased to know that 46% of people feel that 10% is an appropriate amount to tip, whereas 28% believe 5% is better. Almost one fifth of generous holidaymakers tip 15% or more.

TNS head of travel and tourism Tom Costley said: "What is counter intuitive from our research is the apparent lack of loyalty to specific cruise operators, especially in a market where there appears to be a significant degree of repeat purchase. "Also unexpected is the apparent lack of appeal of discounts and special offers - particularly in an industry that is dominated by deals like these."

The survey of 2,059 respondents was conducted face to face among representatives of the UK adult population.

More Europeans are choosing cruise holidays than ever before

New research by TravelMole has revealed that more and more Europeans are choosing to embark on a cruise holiday.

TravelMole has stated that 17 per cent more Europeans opted for cruise holidays in 2007 compared to the previous year, according to statistics from the European Cruise Council (ECC).

Mediterranean cruises are the most popular cruise destinations preferred by 60 per cent of holiday makers, with Caribbean cruises and northern European cruise holidays coming in at a close second and third.

"The popularity of cruising for European holidaymakers is growing faster than anyone in the industry envisaged. The ECC had predicted that we'd hit four million cruise passengers from Europe by 2010," commented David Dingle, ECC Chairman. This target has been achieved two years ahead of schedule according to David Dingle.

Adventure Cruises

Cruising needn’t be a sedate way of seeing the world – an adventure cruise could take you anywhere from the Amazon to the Antartic.

If you are one of those people who still think a holiday at sea is just a pastime for the over-the-hillers with plenty of money, then think again. Adventure lovers can have fun in Alaska, discover there is more to the Persian Gulf than Dubai and visit the Viet Cong tunnels in Vietnam. You can cruise to little-known places such as Trabzon and Batumi in Turkey and Georgia in the Black Sea, Benghazi and Al Khums in Libya and Mangalore or Trivandrum on India’s west coast.

Cruising is an excellent way to get to know remote places in a short space of time. You can get right of the beaten track to remote places such as Antartica, the Arctic and Galapagos. This is not for the faint hearted though as there are no ports at the destinations, definitely meaning no coach loads of tourists, so the only way on and off your ship is by an inflatable boat.

Cruise lines such as Silver sea are investing massively in the exploration side of cruising. Expedition ships are generally smaller but this is because they are able to get into and out of remote ports. But if you book for the places you will see rather than the facilities aboard the ship you will not be disappointed. Having said that, Silversea’s newest addition the Prince Albert II will be the epitome of luxury, you can enjoy the thrill of true expedition whilst also enjoying the privileged lifestyle that is part and parcel of cruising.

Jetline are the cruise holiday specialists. We have all the best advice and superb cruise deals to make your cruise holiday an adventure you will never forget.