Boston’s cruise business has once again set a new record for passenger numbers, making this the third consecutive year it has done so.

The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced today that Boston’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal has so far hosted 299, 736 cruise passengers in the year to date, up by a huge 11% from last year.

Massport’s Executive Director and CEO Thomas J. Kinton Jr said the results showed the continuing strength of the Boston market for both cruise departures and passengers arriving for port of call visits. Kinton stated that the recession has resulted in travellers becoming more selective about their vacation spending, with a resurgent cruise industry benefitting from a trend away from air travel and soaring road costs. The return to the seas had meant that that an increase of 14% was recorded for travellers beginning their cruise from Boston, while inbound day-trippers rose by 8%.

In the cruise season of 2009 over 100 ships stopped at the Black Falcon Terminal, with the final total of 105 being down slightly from the 113 received in 2008. However, numbers were up due to visits from larger vessels, notably the Norwegian Spirit which makes the Boston-Bermuda run. The Norwegian Spirit is some 14% bigger than its predecessor and hugely popular. Also popular were a new range of New England and Canadian cruises.

The total number of passengers (299,736) was steady progress from 2008 numbers (269,911) and those in 2007 (234,284).