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Sea travel has returned in full swing, with passenger cruises back in business.
In Dover, the first passenger cruise set sail in late June 2021 after 15 long months in the doldrums. With another new year, cruise sales are expected to soar as more travellers engage in post-pandemic ‘revenge travel’ due to more locations relaxing the need for testing and vaccination records. To meet this increase in demand, cruises are taking on more changes to improve their offered services and experiences on board and land— making them popular holiday attractions to consider. In this article, we’ll visit some UK cruise trends people can expect this year.
Further voyages with multiple ports
After more than two years of little travel, it’s no wonder cruise lines are returning with grander voyagers and offering not only more amenities but also longer sailing vacations. The longest upcoming ship cruise is expected to be hosted by Miray Cruises’ ship Gemini. Its trip is scheduled to span as long as three years for a worldwide journey, with the lowest-priced cabins around £25,000 a year or £70 a day.
Other than this extravagant journey, there are plenty of world cruises that span 100 to 180 days. If you’re willing to return to Southampton after each leg, P&O Cruises launched a 101-night long five back-to-back cruise experience, passing by US and Canada, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Norway, and the Canary Islands.
Increased demand for luxury cruises
With the rising popularity of cruises, some may argue that these experiences have lost their luxurious feel. This is why there is a greater demand for more amenities like high-end dining, first-class entertainment, and an intimate amount of passengers— with plenty of cruise lines now catering to this need. Explora Luxury Cruises features a selection of all-inclusive experiences, including unlimited drinks, immersive dining with culinary and beverage experts, well-being and fitness programmes, and shuttle services from the port to the city centre.
These ocean journeys are more immersive, with enticing destinations, satisfying the desire for luxury comfort and discovery. In addition to amenities, cruise lines may specifically cater to older audiences— keeping the experience as peaceful and intimate as possible.
Interest for immersive destination experiences
In addition to onboard services, more passengers seek a more authentic and immersive experience when arriving at the ports of the destinations. This demand for ‘local’ experiences has given rise to longer destination stays— with guests now spending days instead of hours at specific destinations. In the case of river-cruise line Uniworld, they started bundling ship and train experiences this year with rail-tour company Golden Eagle Luxury. This enables guests to ride a train inland through Central Europe before stepping on the cruise in Vienna.
In recent years, more consumers are taking on expedition cruises— with ships of 250 or fewer passengers exploring more exotic or remote areas such as the Arctic and Galapagos islands. With fewer customers, cruise lines can give a deeper level of learning and immersion to curious explorers.
Shifts towards sustainability
With increasing environmental concerns across all industries, cruise lines are adopting more service changes and embracing technology to make their services more efficient and sustainable. Case in point, Norwegian Joy changed its itinerary to address issues with its carbon footprint. These modifications included slowing down travel times as well as cancelling a month of trips to boost fuel and energy conservation.
Other sustainable ship lines have adopted more sustainable fuel options and have turned to more plastic-free options, reducing the waste produced onboard. With greater transparency and transitions to sustainable practices, cruise lines can not only lower their impact on the environment but also appeal to the eco-conscious public.
For more on the latest travel trends do read our other articles at the Hawkinge Gazette.