2 A Geographical Overview of the World

Cruise Market and its Seasonal

Complementarities

Jacques J. Charlier1,2 and Robert J. McCalla3

1
University of Paris-sorbonne, Department of Geography, France 75005;
2
University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Department of Geography, Belgium 1348;
3
Saint Mary’s University, Department of Geography, Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3C3

Introduction This chapter attempts to rectify that bias by

drawing upon a more comprehensive source of
The world cruise industry is one of the most cruise shipping operations, namely a yearly pub-
dynamic segments of the tourism industry with lication of the Swedish consultancy ShipPax
dramatic growth that has been widely acknowl- (Brogen, 2004). As a result, we hope to offer a
edged, albeit in a limited way in economics and valuable contribution to the limited, but growing
geography textbooks about the tourism industry body of scientific literature about the geography
(Hall, 2004). A difficulty in knowing about and of the cruise industry (Marti, 1990; Marti and
understanding the dynamics of the industry is Cartaya, 1996; McCalla, 1998; Ridolfi, 2000;
the lack of comprehensive worldwide statistics Wild and Dearing, 2000; Charlier, 2004).
on both the supply of and demand for cruising. For 2004, CLIA’s estimates of cruise supply
Most of the published figures, including those in amounted to 77.3 million bed-days aboard about
commercial publications (Peisley, 1997, 2004; 150 cruise ships (CLIA, 2004). Of this offer,
Wild and Dearing, 1999, 2004), are based upon 66.4% was in North and Central American
quarterly and yearly reports issued by the Cruise waters, 22.3% in Europe and 11.2% in the rest of
Lines International Association (CLIA), a US- the world. As discussed above, this estimate is
based body whose geographical coverage is far geographically biased to the North American
from comprehensive. CLIA only focuses on cruise industry. The Guide 2004: Ferry, Cruise and
cruises offered in North American waters or RO-RO Register Yearbook (Brogen, 2004) is a more
elsewhere in the world to North American con- comprehensive and less geographically biased
sumers by its member lines or by their main source of information featuring many more
competitors as identified by CLIA. cruise ships to many more destinations than
There are, however, many more cruises identified in CLIA documents. For this chapter,
offered by other lines, as shown in popular con- we have reworked the ShipPax database by
sumer guides, the most comprehensive of which excluding some vessels that should not be classi-
is the Berlitz Guide to Ocean Cruising and Cruise fied as pure cruise ships (North American one-day
Ships (Ward, 2004). Consequently, any analysis excursion ships, Baltic one-night cruise ferries
based solely upon figures released by CLIA has a and Norwegian Hurtigruten passenger ferries).
geographical bias to it (Charlier, 1996, 2000). As a result, we have created our own original

18 © CAB International 2006. Cruise Ship Tourism (ed. Ross K. Dowling)

 A Geographical Overview of the World Cruise Market 19

and, we think, more comprehensive database of the-world cruises, are explored elsewhere in this
world cruise supply. This database shows a grand book (McCalla and Charlier, Chapter 19, this
total of 105.7 million bed-days on offer in 2004 volume).
aboard about 250 ocean-going cruise ships.
Compared to CLIA figures, the modified ShipPax
database shows about 28 million more bed-days
and includes 100 more cruise ships, most of The Three Main Macro-geographical
which are small- or medium-sized vessels, and Areas and their Seasonal
often older on average. Complementarities
Before exploring the macro-geography of
world cruise operations, we should make it clear As already mentioned, our grand total of supply
that we approach the exercise from the supply (a theoretical capacity) during 2004 amounts to
side, not from the demand side. Consequently, we 105.7 million bed-days (Table 2.1), including
look at where the cruises are taking place, not from 2.8 million bed-days made up by temporarily
where the passengers originate. From our expe- laid-up vessels (on a seasonal basis, between two
rience, there are no comprehensive reliable charters, for major refurbishments or after a
worldwide statistics on the total number of cruise bankruptcy, but excluding very old laid-up ships
passengers. There are only such figures for with little, if any, prospects of seeing service
North American and European passengers, esti- again). The bed-days of laid-up vessels, account-
mated at 8 million and 2.7 million in 2004, ing for 2.7% of the world grand total, have been
respectively, by CLIA and European Cruise kept in our database because their share features
Council (ECC), whereas there are simply edu- a highly seasonal dimension (ranging from
cated guesses for the rest of the world. They 5.6% for the first quarter to just 0.5% for the
range between 2 and 2.5 million cruise passen- third quarter). Because our analysis is done on a
gers, meaning that the world grand total was seasonal basis, their exclusion would have intro-
around 13 million in 2004 (Peisley, 2004). duced a significant geo-seasonal bias, as most of
If the average length of a cruise worldwide them are sailing in the Mediterranean between
amounts to 7 days, as is the case for North March/April and October/November.
American passengers, there were approximately CLIA’s above-mentioned 77.3 million bed-
91 million bed-days of demand in 2004. If the days should therefore be compared to our own
figure we are quoting for the overall supply, i.e. 102.9 million (105.7 million – 2.8 million) bed-
105.7 million bed-days, is correct, the average days for the effective cruise offer, i.e. 44.2%
occupancy ratio (taking into account vessels more than the offer accounted for by CLIA. In
temporarily idle) amounts to 86.1%. (Actually, it North and Central American waters, the differ-
is much higher for some well-known American ence is quite small relatively (60.4 million for
cruise lines, but it is significantly lower for many our database against 51.4 million for CLIA for a
other operators.) This is a very high occupancy shortfall of 14.9%), whereas it is quite high in
ratio when compared to those observed in the Europe (25.5 million against 17.3 million, a
land-based tourist industry, except perhaps for a 32.1% difference) and even more in the rest of
few major world cities. One of the reasons to the world (17 million vs 8.7 million, a 48.8% dif-
account for the high occupancy is the fact that ference). Therefore, our own estimates for the
cruise ships, which are fundamentally mobile actual shares of the three main cruise areas are
floating resorts, can be moved seasonally from quite different: 57.1% for North and Central
one cruise area to another in order to maximize America (against 66.4% for CLIA), 24.1% for
their occupancy ratio by always sailing in cli- Europe (against 22.4%) and 16.1% for the rest
matically attractive areas (Charlier and Arnold, of the world (against 11.2%), plus another 2.7%
1997; Charlier, 1999). Therefore, the cruise for idle vessels (not accounted for by CLIA).
industry is characterized by a unique feature: Moreover, our database has been computed
the seasonal interregional and intraregional on a monthly basis and we are thus able to show
migrations performed every year by many ves- the monthly and quarterly fluctuations of the
sels. The most spectacular – but also the most world offer for cruising (in graphical and tabular
marginal – of these migrations, namely round- form, respectively). As Table 2.2 shows, the
20 Jacques J. Charlier and Robert J. McCalla

Table 2.1. Quarterly capacity by regional cruise area, 2004 (’000 bed days, lower berths).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

North/Central America 15,767 14,430 14,454 16,287 60,938

Caribbean/Bahamas 13,582 8,888 7,155 12,974 42,599
Mexican Riviera/Panama 2,182 1,586 1,246 2,549 7,563
Alaska 0 3,190 4,091 12 7,293
North-east Atlantic 3 766 1,962 752 3,483
Europe 1,433 8,395 10,644 5,012 25,484
Mediterranean 1,419 5,847 6,579 5,012 18,857
North-west Europe/Transatlantic 14 2,548 4,065 0 6,627
Rest of the world 6,251 3,183 2,425 5,112 16,971
South-east Asia and Far-east 1,269 1,384 1,340 1,579 5,572
South Pacific and Hawaii 1,745 936 890 1,992 5,563
Other submarkets 3,237 863 195 1,541 5,836
Subtotal active fleet 23,451 26,008 27,523 26,411 103,393
Laid-up vessels (temporarily) 1,382 456 137 871 2,846
Grand total world cruise fleet 24,833 26,464 27,660 27,282 106,239
Source : Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

seasonal factor is crucial in the geography of still accounted for 52%, but the rest of the world
cruising, especially when comparing the first and was down to just 8.8% of the world offer, showing
third quarters (corresponding to the winter and just how complex the situation is on a global,
summer seasons in the Northern hemisphere, macro-geographical scale.
and vice versa in the southern hemisphere). The differences in the European offerings
In the first quarter, some 63.3% of the world between the first and third quarters can be
offer is concentrated in North and Central explained by three factors: (i) idle vessels being
American waters (actually only in the southern, locally put in service again after a winter lay-up;
warmest part), and another 25.3% in the rest of (ii) ships sailing back from the southern hemi-
the world (excluding Europe) with, as shown in sphere, be they from the Pacific, the Indian
Table 2.2, about 20% in the southern hemi- Ocean or the South Atlantic; and (iii) ships cross-
sphere. At that time of the year, Europe as a ing the North Atlantic. Capacity-wise, the latter
whole accounted for just 5.8%, and 5.6% of the West–East interregional migration from
theoretical offer was not available (much of it Caribbean waters to European ones is less impor-
accounted for by idle ships in the Mediterranean). tant than the South–North repositionings
Whereas for the third quarter, the picture was undertaken by the vessels sailing in the southern
quite different with Europe accounting for 38.7% hemisphere in the first quarter (the vast majority
and just 0.5% of the theoretical capacity not of which sails to Europe, with a few crossing the
being offered. At the same time, North America Pacific Ocean to cruise in Alaska in summer).

Table 2.2. The overall structure of the world cruise market in 2004 (in % of bed-days worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

North and Central America 63.30 54.31 52.03 59.51 57.15

Europe (incl. Transatlantic) 5.80 31.88 38.66 18.46 24.10
Rest of the world 25.30 12.08 8.81 18.83 16.05
Idle vessels 5.60 1.73 0.50 3.20 2.70
Grand total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Source : Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).
 An Overview of the World Cruise Market 21

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Idle vessels Rest of the world Europe North America

Fig. 2.1. Monthly shares of the main cruise areas and of idle vessels in the world offer for cruising (in %
of bed-days).

As shown in Fig. 2.1, the seasonal geo- basis of the three main cruise areas (North and
graphical redistribution of the world offer for Central America, Europe and the rest of the
cruising takes some time to develop, be it during world) on a subregional scale. Such an analysis
the second quarter, when Europe’s share not only reinforces the interregional migrations
increases to an average of 31.9%, or during the just discussed, but also shows intraregional repo-
fourth quarter, when Europe’s share is already sitionings that are equally important to under-
down to an average of 18.5%. This lengthy tran- stand the seasonal geographical patterns of the
sition seen in the statistics reflects the poor world cruise industry.
cruising season in Europe that starts in
November and declines rapidly in December as
the Northern Hemisphere winter sets in. Intraregional Seasonal
Technically, one should consider that there are Complementarities in North and
two four-month-long peak seasons in the world Central American Waters
cruise market, namely December–March and
June–September, with two two-month-long In 2004, North and Central American waters
shoulder seasons in between (April–May and accounted for 57.1% of the overall offer for
October–November) during which many ship cruising worldwide, with a high of 63.3% in
migrations take place from one major cruise winter and a low of 52% in summer. There are
area to another. Because we could not extend two series of submarkets in the North and
our database back to December 2003, we refer Central American arena: there are areas in
here to 2004, whereas the period from which cruises are offered year-round, but there
December 2003 to November 2004 would have are also areas where cruises operate on a sea-
been somewhat more appropriate. sonal basis. In the first category, there are on the
With this general overview in mind, we Atlantic side, the Caribbean and the Bahamas,
now present a detailed analysis on a quarterly and on the Pacific side, the Mexican Riviera
22 Jacques J. Charlier and Robert J. McCalla

Table 2.3. The overall structure of the North American cruise market in 2004 (in % of bed-days
worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

Year-round markets 63.29 39.29 30.05 56.70 46.96

Seasonal markets 0.01 15.02 21.98 2.81 10.19
Subtotal 63.30 54.31 52.03 59.51 57.15
Source: Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

sensu lato (between southern California and the ter to just 30% of the world offer. This decline in
Panama Canal). In this analysis, the latter area importance is accounted for by more than half
includes the Panama transcanal cruises (even of the ships sailing in the year-round operating
though there are no summer cruises at all on arena repositioning elsewhere in summertime,
the Panama Canal). In the second category fea- be it intercontinentally to Europe (for about one-
turing seasonal cruise offerings, there are the third of the ships’ migrations) or intracontinen-
north-east Atlantic (including Bermuda, New tally to more northern North American waters
England and Eastern Canada) and the north- (for the other two-thirds).
west Pacific where Alaska accounts for the bulk Table 2.4 and Fig. 2.3 both show that the
of the offer. Caribbean and Bahamas market dominates
As can be seen in Table 2.3 and Fig. 2.2, year-round cruising in North and Central
these two series of submarkets are characterized American waters. But the Mexican Riviera
by opposite seasonal patterns; they are, there- including the Panama Canal cruises follows the
fore, highly complementary. On the one hand, seasonal high and low pattern of the Caribbean
the more or less year-round submarkets account and Bahamas, albeit at a much lower scale.
for almost two-thirds of the world offer during The same dissymmetry (but inverted) can
the first quarter (63.3%), but they lose more be found in the seasonal cruise markets of the
than half of that market share in the third quar- more northern waters (Table 2.5 and Fig. 2.4).

70
66.54
65 63.17 64.19 Seasonal markets
62.48
59.32 Year-round markets 61.17
60
55 53.88
51.74 52.17 51.37 50.95 50.92
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 2.2. Monthly shares of North and Central America in the world offer for cruising (in % of bed-days;
year average: 57.15%).
 An Overview of the World Cruise Market 23

Table 2.4. The internal structure of the North American year-round cruise markets in 2004 (in % of
bed-days worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

Caribbean/Bahamas 54.46 33.27 25.52 47.31 39.81

Mexican Riviera/Panama 8.83 6.02 4.53 9.39 7.15
Subtotal 63.29 39.29 30.05 56.70 46.96
Source: Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

The geographical pattern is also reversed with to take up position in the Caribbean and
the Atlantic submarket accounting for much less Bahamas waters for the winter season.)
of the offer (3.3% for the whole year and 7.1% in
summer) than the Pacific submarket, centred
around Alaska (6.9% and 15.0%, respectively). Cruising in Europe: A Tale of Two
Besides their uneven weight, these two cruise Seasonal Markets
areas feature another difference. For climatic
reasons, the season is much shorter in Alaska At first glance Europe shows quite a simple sea-
than in the north-east Atlantic where the sonal pattern, with a peak of 38.7% of the world
Bermuda cruise season is quite long because of capacity in summer and a very limited offer in
the Gulf Stream. Moreover, the Indian Summer winter. In between, there are two transitional
phenomenon and the fall colours are reasons shoulder seasons. But, as is the case for North
why September and October are still highly pop- and Central America, there are two highly dif-
ular for New England and Eastern Canada ferent submarkets within Europe, both in terms
cruises. (At that time of the year, the additional of bed-days offered and in their seasonality
capacity needed is provided by ships sailing back (Table 2.6 and Fig. 2.5). There is a year-round
from northern Europe on their way, eventually, submarket, i.e. the Mediterranean (including

70
66.54
65 63.16 64.16 Mexican Riviera/Panama
62.48 61.11
60 Caribbean/Bahamas
57.47
55
50
45 42.66
40
35 32.14 32.83
29.29 29.12 28.33
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 2.3. Monthly shares of North and Central America’s year-round markets in the world (in % of bed-
days; year average: 46.96%).
24 Jacques J. Charlier and Robert J. McCalla

Table 2.5. The internal structure of the North American seasonal cruise markets in 2004 (in % of bed-
days worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

Alaska 0.00 12.11 14.85 0.04 6.90

North-east Atlantic 0.01 2.91 7.13 2.77 3.29
Subtotal 0.01 15.02 21.98 2.81 10.19
Source: Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

the Black Sea), and a seasonal one of north-west waters, there is no offer at all for cruising in
Europe (north of Gibraltar including the Baltic northern Europe in winter (except for one- or
Sea), whose respective world shares of yearly two-night minicruises in the Baltic and the
offer are highly unequal: 17.8% and 6.3%. For Hurtigruten ferries, both of which were excluded
the Mediterranean there is a temporal bimodal from the analysis, as these are not real cruise
submarket, with peaks in late spring and mid- products in the general understanding of what
fall, and a somewhat more limited offer in the are a cruise and a cruise ship).
summer months indicating a quite long cruise The intracontinental repositionings from
season (April to mid-November). In contrast, the the Mediterranean to north-west Europe are
winter months have a very limited, yet non- undertaken twice a year: northbound by mid-
negligible offer. For northern Europe (as for spring and southbound after the summer sea-
Alaska), the cruise season is rather short with an son. This is the case for most ships, but the two
early start in the spring (again thanks to the Gulf flows are not symmetrical. After the summer
Stream) and a peak in mid-summer. This mid- season some vessels, instead of sailing back
summer peak in northern waters explains some- from north-west Europe to the Mediterranean,
what the bimodal pattern in the Mediterranean cross the Northern Atlantic to offer more lucra-
as ships move north with the finer weather. As tive New England and eastern Canada cruises.
was the case for cruising in North American This unique migratory pattern, combining two

70
65
60
NE Atlantic
55
Alaska
50
45
40
35
30
25 22.88 22.25 22.61
19.60 21.04
20
15
10 8.26
5 1.85
0 0 0.03 0.07 0
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 2.4. Monthly shares of North and Central America’s seasonal markets in the world (in % of bed-days;
year average: 10.19%).
 An Overview of the World Cruise Market 25

Table 2.6. The internal structure of the European cruise markets in 2004 (in % of bed-days worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

Mediterranean 5.74 22.20 23.90 18.46 17.83

North-west Europe 0.06 9.68 14.77 0.00 6.27
Subtotal 5.80 31.88 38.67 18.46 24.10
Source: Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

interregional and two intraregional reposition- Mediterranean for the spring and fall seasons
ing cruises, allows ships to cruise in four differ- cross the Atlantic on southern routes both east-
ent submarkets in a year-long cycle. They sail bound and westbound.
first in the Caribbean in winter, in the
Mediterranean in spring, in north-west Europe
in summer, in New England and eastern The Diversity of Cruising in the Rest of
Canada in autumn and again in the Caribbean the World
in the next winter season. After the round-the-
world cruises explored in much greater detail Cruising in the rest of the world is often seen as
elsewhere in this book (McCalla and Charlier, marginal or ‘niche-like’, and it has been less
Chapter 19, this volume), this is the second documented in the literature before the publica-
most complex ship-deployment pattern in the tion of this book. It will be dealt with here more
cruise industry. Interregionally, it implies two superficially than the North American or
different transatlantic routes: a rather southern European cruising areas, even though its overall
one eastbound, and a very northern one west- contribution to world cruising is far from negli-
bound, whereas the more numerous vessels gible. In total, all submarkets in the rest of the
combining the Caribbean in winter with the world accounted, in 2004, for 16% of the world

70
65
60
55 NW Europe
50 Mediterranean
45
40.70 40.16
40 39.16
36.88
34.93
35 32.41
30
25
20 18.85
15.95
15
10 7.67 6.86
4.63 4.99
5
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 2.5. Monthly shares of Europe in the world offer for cruising (in % of bed-days; year average:
24.10%).
26 Jacques J. Charlier and Robert J. McCalla

Table 2.7. The internal structure of the cruise markets in the rest of the world in 2004 (in % of bed-
days worldwide).

First Second Third Fourth Whole

quarter quarter quarter quarter year

South-east Asia and Far East 5.14 5.25 4.87 5.82 5.27
South Pacific and Hawaii 7.06 3.55 3.23 7.34 5.26
Other submarkets 13.10 3.28 0.71 5.67 5.52
Subtotal 25.30 12.08 8.81 18.83 16.05
Source: Own database adapted from Brogen (2004).

offer with a peak of 25.3% for the first quarter ‘other markets’) also account each for slightly
and a low of 8.8% for the third quarter more than 5% of the world cruise offer on a
(Table 2.7 and Fig. 2.6). The peak in the first yearly basis. The ‘other markets’ include South
quarter is largely accounted for by cruises in the America and the Antarctica (2.6% overall),
waters of the southern hemisphere (its sum- Africa and the Indian Ocean (1.7%) and the
mer). The decline through the second quarter to above-mentioned round-the-world cruises
the third and increase in the fourth are (1.2%). These cruising areas are combined here
explained by interregional repositionings mostly because their individual weights are quite small
from these southern waters to and from Europe, and because their seasonal patterns are rather
with a few ships crossing the Pacific Ocean to identical (Arnold and Charlier, 1999; Charlier,
and from Alaska. 2000). However, the two submarkets are signif-
South-east Asia and the Far East icantly different: on the one hand, the South
accounted for 5.3% on a yearly basis. This is the Pacific and Hawaii submarket features some
only regional submarket where the offer for offer for cruising during the third quarter
cruising is more or less equal all year long. The (3.3%), whereas there is very little offer left at
other two categories of submarkets (South that time in the smaller ‘other markets’ (0.7%).
Pacific (including Australia) and Hawaii, and Also, the latter markets feature a peak at a

70
65
60
55
50
45 Other markets
South Pacific/Hawaii
40
SE Asia/Far East
35
30
25.85 26.41
25 23.75
21.50
18.35 19.63
20
15.39
15
10.09 10.24
10 8.16 7.76 8.50
5
0
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Fig. 2.6. Monthly shares of the other markets in the world offer for cruising (in % of bed-days; year
average: 16.05%).
 An Overview of the World Cruise Market 27

much higher level in the first quarter than is the Table 2.8 summarizes the main patterns of ves-
case for the South Pacific and Hawaii area. sels’ deployment that we have identified on a
As can be seen, there is a wide spectrum of quarterly basis in North and Central American
regional patterns outside North and Central waters, in Europe and in the rest of the world. As
America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and more can be seen, in a minority of cases, the ships are
research (as offered in Chapter 19, this volume), able to sail year-round within the same cruising
is needed in order to understand how these areas, either with or without intraregional
smaller submarkets fit into the general pattern movements. In several cases, highlighted in ital-
of world cruising. ics, ships are redeployed interregionally, with
long oceanic-repositioning cruises in between.
Except for a limited number of ‘vagabonds of the
Conclusion: An Industry Governed by seas’ (usually luxury ships), the only cases of
Seasonality and Repositioning Strategies deployments featuring calls within each of the
three major areas are world cruises, especially of
In this chapter, we have raised a series of the round-the-world variety.
methodological issues and shown how complex As already highlighted, there are two differ-
the world cruise market is in its geographical ent types of repositioning voyages undertaken
dimensions. On the methodological front, as for by vessels shifting seasonally from one sub-
other aspects of science in general and of geog- market to another. On the one hand, there are
raphy in particular, the accuracy of the findings the (rather short) intraregional repositioning
is conditioned by the accuracy of the data. In cruises arranged within the same macro-
this respect, we feel that our own database fea- geographical area; on the other hand, there are
turing the regional and monthly deployment of (usually longer) interregional repositioning
the world cruise fleet in the year 2004 is the cruises between two of the said three major
most comprehensive and the least geographi- areas. A typology of these combinations is
cally biased available among those referred to in shown in Table 2.9, where they are arranged in
the literature. It does not restrict itself to cruises a tabular way, from North and Central
sold to the North American public, as is the case American waters to Europe and the rest of the
for CLIA, but aims at a global coverage outside world, with a breakdown between inter- and
North and Central American waters, in Europe intraregional repositionings. In a limited num-
and in the rest of the world. ber of cases, the two strategies can even be com-
Methodologically, we have attempted a bined in order to seize an optimal number of
dynamic view of the industry through a consid- opportunities.
eration of its seasonality, which we view is key Deploying cruise ships on a global basis is
to understanding world cruising. Regular year- very much an art, rather than a science. Each
round cruising in a given area is more an cruise line undertakes this exercise by taking
exception than the rule in the industry. Even into consideration a series of parameters vary-
the Caribbean features a strong seasonal pat- ing from one line to another. Until recently, the
tern in its monthly offer for cruising. This size of the vessels was not a major limiting factor
leaves only two truly year-round submarkets: (except for the former Norway of Norwegian
South-east Asia and Hawaii. Everywhere else Cruise Line, now idle after a major technical
in the world, there are significant differences incident). But cruise shipping has entered into
between the peak and low seasons, and in sev- the post-Panamax era, with more than 20 ships
eral cases, there is no cruise offer at all during in service or on order unable because of their
a significant part of the year, as for Alaska, hull dimensions (especially their beam, but also
north-west Europe and some southern hemi- their length for the larger of them) to transit the
sphere submarkets. Panama Canal (Charlier, 2004). As sailing
The seasonal movement of very expensive around South America is not a commercially
assets like cruise ships from one cruise area to viable option under normal circumstances,
another is a key factor of financial success for these megavessels cannot be redeployed as easily
cruise lines, making cruise shipping quite a as the Panamax-sized ships forming the bulk of
unique branch of the tourism industry. the world cruise fleet. In particular, the seasonal
28 Jacques J. Charlier and Robert J. McCalla

Table 2.8. Main seasonal cruise patterns for the main cruise markets.

First Second Third Fourth

quarter quarter quarter quarter

North America
Caribbean Caribbean Caribbean Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Alaska Alaska Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/NE Atlantic NE Atlantic NE Atlantic/Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/
Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/
Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean NW Europe NE Atlantic/Caribbean
Mexican Riviera Mexican Riviera Mexican Riviera Mexican Rivera
Mexican Riviera Mexican Riviera/Alaska Alaska Mexican Riviera
Panama Canal Panama Canal/Alaska Alaska Panama Canal
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific/Alaska Alaska Alaska/Asia-Pacific

Europe
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/
Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/
Caribbean
Caribbean Caribbean/Mediterranean NW Europe NE Atlantic/Caribbean
Idle Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean
Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean
Mediterranean Mediterranean/NW Europe NW Europe Mediterranean
Asia-Pacific Asia/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/Asia
Africa Africa/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/Africa
Africa Africa/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/Africa
S. America S. America/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/
S. America
S. America S. America/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/
S. America
Rest of the world
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific Pacific/Alaska Alaska Alaska/Pacific
Asia-Pacific Asia/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/Asia
Africa Africa/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/Africa
Africa Africa/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/Africa
S. America S. America/Mediterranean Mediterranean Mediterranean/
S. America
S. America S. America/Mediterranean NW Europe Mediterranean/
S. America
Special cases
Round the world Variable Variable Variable
Other world cruises Variable Variable Variable
Lines shown in italics imply interregional repositionings and appear therefore twice, for two markets.
Caribbean includes Bahamas, NE Atlantic includes Bermuda, Asia-Pacific includes Hawaii, Africa includes the Indian
Ocean and South America includes Antarctica.
Source: Derived from the analysis above and based upon the authors’ understanding of the market.
 An Overview of the World Cruise Market 29

Table 2.9. Main inter- and intraregional repositioning patterns for the cruise industry.

Interregional repositionings Intraregional repositionings

From and to North and Central America Within North and Central America
Caribbean–Mediterranean (WB and EB) Caribbean–Alaska (NB and SB)
Caribbean–NW Europe (mostly EB) Caribbean–NE Atlantic (NB and SB)
Asia-Pacific–Alaska (EB and WB) Panama Canal–Alaska (NB and EB)
NW Europe–NE Atlantic (WB only) Mexican Riviera–Alaska (NB and EB)

To and from Europe Within Europe

Caribbean–Mediterranean (EB and WB) Mediterranean–NW Europe (NB and SB)
Caribbean–NW Europe (mostly EB)
NW Europe–NE Atlantic (WB only)
Asia-Pacific–Mediterranean (NB and SB)
Africa–Mediterranean (NB and SB)
S. America–Mediterranean (NB and EB)

To and from the rest of the world Within the rest of the world
Asia-Pacific–Alaska (EB and WB) Within the Asia-Pacific area (SB and NB)
Asia-Pacific–Mediterranean (NB and SB)
Africa–Mediterranean (NB and SB)
S. America–Mediterranean (NB and EB)
Caribbean includes Bahamas, NE Atlantic includes Bermuda, Asia-Pacific includes Hawaii, Africa includes the Indian
Ocean and South America includes Antarctica.
EB = eastbound; NB = northbound; SB = southbound; WB = westbound.
Source: Derived from the analysis above and based upon the authors’ understanding of the market.

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