The resurgence in the cruise industry means that 2010 could well be the best year in a while, as holidaymakers turn increasingly away from the air and head onto the water.
So just where are the best destinations for cruising holidays? The following are the current hot items that should be discovered while they can.
A tour of the arctic region may well come once in a lifetime, especially if the global warming doomsayers are correct. The Svalbard archipelago is the best Nordic region to see the majesty that sea has to offer, with Spitsbergen a popular stopover on the Iceland and [...]

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 [...]

Jamaica has been announced as the World’s Leading Cruise Destination for the fourth consecutive year at the prestigious World Travel Awards. Jamaica also recorded its fifth victory as Leading Cruise Destination in the Caribbean while Ocho Rios won the award for leading Caribbean port.
Dubbed the travel and tourism Oscars, the World Travel Awards are decided by travel professionals from over 160 countries and 183,000 companies across the globe. Organisers claim winning an award brings more exposure, recognition and ultimately passengers to the victor.
A spokesperson for the Jamaican port authority attributed the continued success at the awards to the diversity of [...]

The 16th and 17th vessels to join to range of luxury ships in the Costa Cruises brand have been named after a worldwide search which saw some 16,000 suggestions received from cruise fans and travel agents.
The two new ships will be called the Costa Fascinosa and the Costa Favolosa and will be launched over the next two years. The final decision on the names was based upon how well the Costa concepts of emotion, glamour, passion and magic were reflected in their title.
The addition of the sister ships is part of an overall expansion strategy for Costa Cruises, which brings [...]

In what is believed to be a UK industry first, luxury cruise company Amawaterways has announced plans to launch a range of guided rail and cruise holidays in conjunction with the UK leader Great Rail Journeys.
The US based Amawaterways is the fastest growing river cruising organisation in Europe and offers excursions on all of the continent’s most famous waterways such as the Rhine, Danube and Seine. The group also features a range of Russian excursions along with a specialised Mekong adventure.
Its latest venture is aimed squarely at those travelers seeking to avoid the increasingly stressful airline industry. The partnership with Great [...]

Cruising is back in vogue. The romance once associated with air travel has suffered under the weight of rising fuel prices and budget airlines, meaning more people are returning to the cruise industry for emotional comfort during travel.
The number of cruises departing British shores has risen by over 20% in the past year, with nearly half being from UK departures. Coupled with the forecast launch of 5 new liners dedicated to the UK market, the outlook for British cruising has never been so bright.
The cruise industry is expecting that more passengers will be drawn to the benefits of cruise liners [...]

The latest marketing campaign by the Scottish capital is focussing on growing Edinburgh’s share of cruise line passengers. The new campaign is hoping to capitalise on the resurgence in cruising holidays and target the high-income ship goers who dominate the Norwegian and Baltic cruise operators. Some £35,000 has been spent to promote Edinburgh including a newly created website dedicated to cruise passengers.
The objective of the push is to increase the presence of Edinburgh on the itineraries of northern European cruise liners as more travel customers are forecasted for this sector. Edinburgh hopes to have increased its passenger numbers by 40% [...]

A range of offers and discounts will be on show during the current National Cruise Week which is the latest undertaking to promoting awareness of the cruise industry. The event runs until Monday and features a raft of bargains for potential cruise goers.
The annual awareness campaign is run by The Passenger Shipping Association and this year features free upgrades, free flight offers and a range of discounts that can be located on the association’s website. The PSA is the voice of UK cruising and as such several heavyweights have thrown their products into the mix.
The Luxury cruise line Regent Seven [...]

Cruise North, the arctic cruising specialists, have bucked the recent travel downturn with numbers holding steady across all bookings to its northern destinations. The steep drop in tourism across the globe has fortunately not affected the group, who confirm that advance bookings for next year already hint at an economic recovery.
The World Tourism Organisation announced in its most recent report that first quarter numbers for global travel were down by 8.4%. November and December were especially difficult months for northern hemisphere operators as staycations and holiday periods saw spending focused more at home than abroad. In this period, Cruise North [...]

December will see the first International Cougar Cruise set sail from San Diego aboard the appropriately titled vessel Elation. The Singles Travel Company, the world’s largest non-profit group for romance seeking singles, has launched the idea following a surge in Cougar-orientated business. Several hotels in the US have recently launched highly successful Cougar nights, where rich middle aged women can meet pizza-delivery boys and the ubiquitous pool-cleaner.
For those not in the know, a Cougar is an older woman who makes themselves sexually available to younger men, most famously epitomised by Anne Bancroft in The Graduate and Ellen Barkin in Ocean’s [...]