April 22, 2004

Married baby boomers heart of cruise market

There's really no such thing as a “typical” cruise vacationer anymore. From rich and famous celebrities to the family next door, all kinds of people enjoy cruises these days.

A recent analysis of the cruise market for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) by TNS Plog Research, however, provides a snapshot of today's cruise buyer as a married baby boomer who has a current passport, loves to travel and does so frequently.

Based on the current American Traveler Survey, here are some quick facts about the prime candidates to visit a CLIA member travel agency to plan a cruise vacation:

Baby boomers are the heart of the cruise market. Thirty-four percent of cruisers are between the ages of 35 and 54. Three in four (76 percent) cruisers are married, and two in five (44 percent) are college graduates. Only one in four (25 percent) cruisers is retired.

Families are an important segment of the cruise market. While a spouse is the most likely cruise companion, 16 percent of cruisers bring children under age 18 along on a cruise.

Cruisers are frequent travelers. They average 3.8 vacation trips a year and 18.6 nights away from home. Recent cruisers (those who have taken a cruise in the past three years) average 4.5 leisure trips a year and 20.8 nights out of town.

Cruisers allocated nearly twice as much to leisure travel as the average vacationer—an average of $4,083 for all cruisers and $5,135 for recent cruisers.

Most cruise vacationers go back to sea again and again. The average cruiser has taken three (2.8) cruises in his lifetime, and two of them (1.6) occurred within the past three years.

Cruisers rely on travel agents. As many as nine out of 10 (89 percent) cruisers used a travel agent to book their last cruise. For more information, call the Travel Desk at (408) 723-0823, or visit their Web site at www.traveldeskonline.com

Baby boomers are the heart of the cruise market. Thirty-four percent of cruisers are between the ages of 35 and 54. Most rely on the service provided by local travel agents.

Queen Mary 2 arrives in New York

The Queen Mary 2 arrived at her U.S. home port of New York Thursday morning for the first time on her maiden westbound transatlantic voyage from Southampton, England. The flagship of Cunard Line and the British merchant fleet were welcomed to New York in grand fashion. The Queen Mary 2 is the largest (151,400 tons), longest (1,132 feet), tallest (236 feet), widest (135 feet) and most expensive ($800 million) liner ever built. It is also the first true transatlantic liner to have been built since Cunard's famous Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service in May 1969. For more information, call the Travel Desk at (408) 723-0823, or visit their Web site at www.traveldeskonline.com

—By Sean Eastwood