Introduction about the world of cruising
1- 1- The cruise industry has
evolved markedly since the early days of the first passenger ships. This
evolution has involved excursion voyages, transatlantic travel, the post-war
boom, the demise of passenger ships and the advent of modern cruising
(Dickinson and Vladimir, 1997). The industry is again growing rapidly and
remains one of the major areas of tourism growth since the start of the new
millennium. Between 2008 and 2014 cruise travel outpaced general leisure travel
in the USA by 22%, and global cruising is evolving at a record pace increasing
from 18 million passengers in 2009 to a projected 24 million in 2016, a 33%
growth over the 9-year period (CLIA, 2016; Table 1.1). The economic impact of
cruising in 2014 was 939,232 jobs, US$39.3 billion in wages and salaries. The
average daily passenger spending was US$134.72 with a total economic impact of
US$120 billion (CLIA, 2016).
2- 2- The industry continues to
focus on consolidation, with more than 80% of the global market share held by
three cruise companies – Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL), Carnival Cruise
Lines (CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) (Pinnock, 2014; Clancy, see
Chapter 2, this volume). The two most popular cruise destination regions are
the Caribbean (33.7%) and the Mediterranean (18.7%). Rapidly growing
destinations include Asia (9.2%), and Australasia and the Pacific (6.1%). These
latter regions are experiencing spectacular increases in demand, and the
world’s leading cruise lines have established regional headquarters in both
Asia and Australia. Although markedly different, China and Cuba have been
identified as the markets with the greatest growth potential (AEC, 2015).
3- 3-A regional example of the
increasing appeal of cruising is its phenomenal increase in Australia. In the
past decade the number of people cruising there has risen six-fold from 158,415
(2004) to 1,003,256 (2014) (CLIA, 2015a). These figures confirm Aus1] trail’s position as the world’s fastest growing source of cruise passengers, with num [1] burs surging 20.4% from 2013 to 2014. The achievement of 1 million passengers in a
calendar year comes 6 years before originally anticipated and has been driven
by an impressive 20% annual average growth for the past 12 years. Australia has
also re1] trained its position as the world leader for market penetration, with the equivalent of
4.2% of Australians taking a cruise in 2014, significantly ahead of the
well-established North American market, which ranked second with a market
penetration rate of 3.4% (CLIA, 2015a).
4- 4- It is not just ocean
cruising that is increasing in popularity. River cruising is also growing
rapidly around the world, and today around 1 million people cruises on river
ships (Ward, 2014). Key destinations include the Danube, Rhine, Elbe, Rhone,
Seine, Po and Douro (Europe), Mississippi (USA), Yangtze (China), Lower Ganges
(India), Mekong (Vietnam and Cambodia), Irrawaddy (Myanmar), Murray (Aus[1]tralia),
Chobe (Botswana and Namibia), Nile (Egypt) and the Amazon (South America).
5- 5- Cruise Supply A cruise is
defined as ‘to make a trip by sea in a liner for pleasure, usually calling at a
number of ports’ (Collins English Dictionary, n.d.). Traditionally, cruise
ships have been evaluated according to size, number of passengers and state
rooms (Mancini, 2011). Ships range from very small or micro (under 10,000 t and
200 passengers), to megaships (over 70,000 t and carrying more than 2000 passengers).
The largest cruise ships in the world are Royal Caribbean International’s three
‘Oasis-class ships.
6- 6- Harmony of the Seas
(227,000 gross registered tonnes (GRT)) was launched in 2016 (see Introduction
to Part 1), Allure of the Seas (225,282 GRT, 2010) (Fig. 1.1) and Oasis of the
Seas (225,282 GRT, 2009) (Table 1.2). A different classification categorizes
ships from boutique to large resort ships (Ward, 2016) (Table 1.3). The most
widely used rating is that of Berlitz, which categorizes ships according to
facilities, accommodation, cuisine, service, entertainment and the overall
cruise ex[1]perience
(Ward, 2016).
7- 7- Their 2016 publication
rated Hapag-Lloyd Cruises Europa 2 as the best cruise ship in the world (Fig.
1.2; Table 1.4). Cruise ships are getting larger. In the 1970s it was
considered that a 25,000-t, 800-passenger vessel was the most cost effective
and therefore profitable (Peisley, 1989). Cruise ship builders now believe the
economies of scale argument applies to much larger vessels, with many new ships
weighing more than 150,000 t and capable of accommodating over 3000 passengers.
These ships offer a greater choice of facil[1]ities and activities
and are designed for a new generation of passenger who has broader, more varied
interests. Known as mega-liners, these vessels are recognized as giant floating
resorts, and compete directly with luxury shore-based hotels (Dowling and
Vasudavan, 2000). They have large multi-level hotel-style atrium-lobbies, glass
eleva[1]tors,
impressive art works, glitzy casinos, show-lounges, shopping canters, health.
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