Category: Books / Publications / Websites / Blogs / Surveys

If you have think cruises attract only one type of person and you’re not it, then Lonely Planet’s “The Cruise Handbook” (Lonely Planet, $18) is your next must-read. The new paperback takes an eye-opening deep-dive into this polarizing travel category, doling out essential advice for when, where and how to cruise to a new generation of wayfarers. (mercurynews.com)

A new survey of travel advisors shows that expedition cruising may be the next big trend in travel. Travel Market Report’s “2019 Outlook on Expedition Cruising,” released today (May 17), shows that the number of advisors who plan to start selling expedition cruises this year or next will double, in time for a wave of new ships and new itineraries from cruise lines across the board. (travelmarketreport.com)

Micro-Cruising is excited to announce the launch of their new online booking tool for agents (micro-cruising.com.au) to be able to click-to-book small ship cruising products. The worldwide product will be loaded in a staged approach with their most popular destination being Croatia launched initially. (more…)

A strong seasonal fall foliage market, Canada/New England will be another cruise region posting a record year when it comes to cruise ships and passenger capacity, with traffic projected to be up over 8 percent, according to the “2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report”. (cruiseindustrynews.com)

Cruise Industry News has released the 2019 Financial Tracking Report, comparing the results of the major cruise companies from 1993 through 2018. For 2018, the report compares key metrics for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, MSC and Genting.

TripAdvisor announced the launch today (Apr.9) of a new portal for cruisers, taking cruise reviews and research mainstream for the travel site. Users will be able to read and write reviews, dig into ship itineraries and amenities, compare prices and shop for cruises. (eu.usatoday.com)

Miami-based company Zielia has launched Zielia.com, the cruise industry’s first comprehensive digital database of port and destination-related information for itinerary planners, port and shore excursion professionals and other cruise line executives. (cruiseandferry.net)

The Clio, SeaDream I and Corinthian all spent time at Naval Rocha in Lisbon late last year. “We are getting bookings about one year in advance, but sometimes farther out, we already have a ship for 2020,” said Sergio Rodrigues, commercial director, in the “2019 Drydocking and Refurbishment Report” by Cruise Industry News.

Supply is down in Asia-Pacific in 2019, as cruise lines have modified deployments and redeployed ships primarily away from the Chinese market in a readjustment year, according to data in the 2019 “Cruise Industry News Annual Report”. The region will account for some 12.3 percent of global cruise capacity in 2019, well down from its 15.7 percent market share peak in 2017, when the Chinese market was as hot as could be. (cruiseindustrynews.com)

The most popular cruise ships, according to consumer reviews shared on Cruise Critic over the past 12 months, were revealed today in Cruise Critic’s 9th annual Cruisers’ Choice Awards. Among the lines with winning ships are Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises in the Large category; Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises and MSC Cruises in the Mid-Size category; Viking Ocean Cruises, which swept the Small-Mid category; and Silversea Cruises and Paul Gauguin Cruises in the Small category.

Insured vacations saw a big increase in 2018, particularly cruises, which were up over 1,000 percent. That’s according to new research from Generali Global Assistance’s Travel Insurance division, compiled its finding from its proprietary data on insured travel for the 2018 season. (travelagentcentral.com)

“At long, last, we have actually managed to build and open our brand new website. This might not mean a lot to some of you, but in this world of today, which is all but totally reliant on the internet, it is essential that we now shed our old clothes and get into fashion. With our new site, we can now offer you so much more”, says Des Cox, cofounder of Snowbow. (more…)

Cruise ships generate high levels of air pollution that could endanger the health of passengers, staff and port communities, according to an undercover report released Thursday. (edition.cnn.com)

Many Canadians use the beginning of a new year, and the beginning of Canada’s cold winter, to get some highly anticipated vacation time away from home. According to latest Travel Markets Outlook reports from The Conference Board of Canada, a growing number of Canadian households plan to take a winter vacation this year. (finance.yahoo.com)

Fancy escaping the harsh winter with a lush tropical cruise getaway? Good news: prices for many cruises in January 2019 are significantly lower than they were a year ago. However, there are major differences by cruise line.

A new data-driven report by InsureMyTrip, the largest travel insurance comparison site, and Cruise Critic, the largest cruise community, reveals that more travelers prefer to book a cruise during late January than any other time during the year. (more…)

Love going to cruises? We know you can even play online games with mohegan sun pocono promo code while you are waiting for the cruise line, and win some good money. However, what’s your best cruise been like? (more…)

Celebrity Edge, Viking Orion and U by Uniworld’s The A took honors as the best new cruise ships of 2018 in Cruise Critic’s 11th annual Editors’ Picks Awards. The awards — divided by ocean, luxury and river cruising — are selected by Cruise Critic’s team of international editors for a variety of categories, including best dining, best cabins and best for families. River cruises and luxury cruises are judged separately.