Summer travel season is right around the corner. And with travel plans up from this time last year, you, like us, may be curious to know what kinds of vacations–if any–are top of mind.
While cruises largely took a pause due to the pandemic, CivicScience decided to study consumer experience with and plans to take a cruise in the near future. As the data show, 20% of U.S. adults say they have cruised in the past plan to go on a cruise again with another 16% interested. That’s more than a third of the population who is keen on cruising.
In terms of comfort levels, 53% report that they are somewhat or very comfortable with going on a cruise right now. Coming off the heels of a 2+ year pandemic, that comfort level is in line with other CivicScience data, such as restaurant dining and attending public events.
Furthermore, 20% report some level of likelihood that they will go on a cruise this spring or summer. The long and the short of it? Cruises may be making a comeback.
Setting Sail
Perhaps not surprisingly, those who have been overseas before are more likely to be opting into a cruise vacation this year. They’re also less likely to be deterred by rising gas prices, however 30% of this group of cruisers still say they will spend less on travel, which is nothing to ignore for cruise lines.
Demographics of Upcoming Cruisers
Although often thought of as the perfect option for an older crowd, the new cruise intenders are largely 18-24 years old and skew slightly more female than male.
Main Attractions
When it comes to main attractions, music is a higher priority than food for the new, pandemic-era cruiser. This likely serves as a proxy for age, but not a correlation to ignore.
Location, Location
Given the various health requirements that accompany international travel, it may come as no surprise that those who are most likely to take a cruise this spring or summer are the most interested in departing from a cruise within the U.S.
That said, the Mediterranean is still a top destination for some of the most avid cruise intenders this year. So while domestic and Caribbean cruising show the strongest interest, many may still have their sights on sunning themselves across the Atlantic.
At the end of the day, while vacationers may choose cruises for a variety of reasons, one of those reasons is likely a desire to de-stress. Those who are at least somewhat likely to cruise have also felt the most stressed in the past week. So forget deep-sea diving, deep-sea relaxing may be the name of the game this year.
After two years of pandemic-impacted summer vacations, it seems that 2022 is bringing cruises back in a big way, for a younger, music-attentive, female crowd that is ready to slough off stress and enjoy a much-needed break, whether at home or abroad.
