According to our friends at Cruise Industry News, cruising is very much alive and kicking with their 2021 Cruise Industry News Annual Report. saying that having carried an estimated only 5.7 million passengers mostly before the industry shut down in 2020, compared to 27.8 million in 2019, cruise lines will have the capacity to carry 31.7 million passengers in 2022 and growing that to 38.7 million passengers by 2027.
The report says that projections are based on ship deployments and the 105-ship strong orderbook scheduled for deliveries through 2027, with industry executives expecting to resume partial service by mid-2021, building up to full deployment in 2022, when the global fleet will consist of nearly 450 ships.
The report also says the prevalence of COVID-19 will be a key factor determining when the industry can resume full service, however, with that prevalence will in turn be impacted by the rate of containment and vaccinations not only in the passenger source markets, but also in destinations on a global scale.
2019, which was the last full year of service, saw more than 60 percent of the industry capacity concentrated in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
At the same time all discussions Global Travel Media is having with cruise operators show massive booking demand and levels and a massive rebound in demand for cruising with forward bookings very strong indeed with many cruises already sold out in 2021 and into 2022 and 2023, so get booking!
A report by John Alwyn-Jones
