More people are planning on taking a cruise holiday within the next 12 months

There is set to be a greater demand for cruise holidays in the coming year with 98.9 per cent of travellers planning on going out by the sea for a vacation.

These findings come from the annual members' survey by cruise adviser Cruiseline, and its cruise app Shipmate, with more than 5,000 respondents taking part.

The 98.1 per cent figure of survey respondents who stated that they plan to go on a cruise within the next 12 months presents an increase of 7.5 per cent from last year's survey. Out of the remaining respondents who do not plan on taking a cruise, 1.1 per cent mentioned they are yet to decide whilst only 0.1 per cent completely ruled out a cruise holiday in the next year.

Last year 6.1 per cent of people taking part in the survey were undecided about taking a cruise holiday and 2.5 per cent ruled it out completely. The new survey shows an increase from last year in people wanting to go on a cruise and a decrease in those who are undecided or definitely not going on a cruise in the year ahead.

From the 98.1 per cent of travellers planning a cruise holiday up ahead, 46.4 per cent are set to set sail on their vacation within the upcoming 90 days whilst 29.7 per cent of them plan to do so in the forthcoming four to six months.

Out of the remaining respondents planning a cruise soon, 17.4 per cent revealed they plan to set sail in seven to 12 months, 4.9 per cent plan to in 13 to 18 months and the other 1.6 per cent have plans set for 19 months and beyond away.

In looking at how many cruises people have planned, nearly half (48.2%) of the survey respondents have already booked two to four cruise holidays with 33.3 per cent having booked just one. There are some travellers with bigger plans as 6.4 per cent have booked five to seven holidays and 3.4 per cent have booked even more with eight or more cruises.

A reported 8.7 per cent of travellers are part of those planning on heading out to the sea in the following year but are yet to place a cruise booking.

General Manager of Cruiseline.com, Jamie Cash, spoke on the results from the 2023 survey. He explained: "The demand for cruising is stronger than ever, with more travellers reporting they intend on booking not just one but many cruises over the upcoming year and beyond."

Cash went on to add: "We're seeing fewer travellers on the fence about booking a cruise and a renewed comfort level with cruising. As a whole, we're seeing bookings for longer cruise durations and travellers booking voyages to regions worldwide."

With regard to what cruise line the travellers will be vacationing on, the most popular with 36.3 per cent of travellers to set sail with is Carnival Cruise Line, with Royal Caribbean International just behind as 34.2 per cent of people will sail with that cruise line. 21 per cent will reside on cruises by either Norwegian Cruise Line or Celebrity Cruises whilst 18.9 per cent will select Princess Cruises.

Other notable cruise lines that travellers will sail with include Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages.

The most common place for people to head towards on their cruise travels is the Caribbean, with 61.4 per cent set to go there. Europe is the next popular destination for travellers heading on a cruise holiday with 27.9 per cent heading to that location.

Other popular cruise destination choices include Alaska (17.9%), Mexico (13%) and Canada/New England (10.5%). Also, Hawaii, Bermuda, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Arctic have been revealed as places set to be visited by cruise-goers.

Out of the people that have cruises booked already, the most common length selected for a cruise holiday is for seven days, with 43.1 per cent of travellers stating this. 31.6 per cent of people will head out on a 10 to 14-day vacation, 12 per cent will be on holiday for four to six days and 11.8 per cent will stay on board for 15 days or more.

Short cruise holidays consisting of three days or fewer on board were not very popular as just 0.9 per cent of people going on a cruise are going for that short duration.

The survey respondents were asked how far in advance they would purchase cruise tickets and it was revealed six to 12 months was the most common answer with 45 per cent stating that. 31.5 per cent claimed they book 12 to 18 months prior to a cruise holiday whilst 16.1 per cent admitted to placing their cruise booking as far back as 19 months or beyond.

With regard to those who book tickets on such short notice, 15 per cent stated they book three to six months before setting sail and just 2.1 per cent admitted to confirming their holiday just under three months before.

The survey participants were also quizzed on what would make them select a particular cruise holiday. The most common answer in the survey with 40 per cent agreeing was the itinerary or destination of the cruise.

Other popular answers included the price of the cruise (22.7%) and the cruise line itself (21.2%). Further reasons included promotions when cruise booking (9.2%) and the ship the travellers would be setting sail on (5.7%).

In relation to how tickets are booked, they either get processed through a travel agent or directly with a cruise line. Among those who book through an agent, 32.3 per cent get it sorted via a phone call whilst 11 per cent go through a travel agency's website.

For the people that prefer booking via a cruise line directly, 28.9 per cent will do so online and 24.1 per cent will carry it out from a phone.