Popular Cruise Destinations

The cruise industry is a big industry. The Cruise Line Industry association (CLIA) which represents 62 cruise lines (or over 95% of global cruise capacity) publishes an annual look at the state of the cruise industry and predicted that in 2016 cruise lines would welcome over 24 million passengers and by the end of the year there would be 475 cruise ships in operation ranging from specialty ships in the Galapagos to mega cruise ships in the Caribbean.

Caribbean Cruising

By far the most popular destination for a cruise is the Caribbean with 33.7% of the passenger cruising capacity for 2016. With warm weather year-round and plenty of different ports of call, the Caribbean has long been a favourite for all sorts of cruise vacations. Florida is by-far the starting point for many of the cruises with the port of Miami, Port Everglades, and Port Canaveral holding the top three spots; each catering to over 4,000,000 cruise passengers a year.

Mediterranean Cruises

Barcelona is the first port outside of the Americas to make the list of busiest cruise ports in the world; and this leads us to the second most popular destination for cruises: The Mediterranean. While the Mediterranean isn’t quite the year-round hub for cruising as the Caribbean is, there is still plenty of charm and variety between the different ports dotting the southern European and North-African coasts. Many ships sail in the Mediterranean in the summer months, then seek warmer climes for the winters, trekking across the Atlantic or through the Suez Canal en-route to their winter homes.

European River Cruises

Often overlooked in Europe is river cruising. While perhaps not as grand as ocean cruising owing to the smaller size of the vessels, river cruising certainly should not be considered inferior. River cruise ships offer many of the same high-quality amenities and services their larger ocean-faring counterparts do and provide an intimate sophisticated experience for all passengers.

So whether it’s a jaunt to the Bahamas, or a tour of the old world; consider a cruise for your next vacation and have your hotel take you places.