Despite the recent hurricane blasts, people are still going to the Caribbean. A look at the statistics just out shows the affinity people have for the warm climate and sandy beaches. In 2016, about 1/3 of all cruises visited the islands.
Popularity of Caribbean Cruises
After two recent massive hurricanes several islands got demolished. Most suffered flooding and extremely high winds, Puerto Rico is still “under water” – weeks after the deluge.
I, for one, will not attempt a trip down there from September through December. That is when you really need motion sickness pills. There are YouTube videos posted that show lower cabins actually going underwater!
Backgrounder: The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)
The next most popular destination is probably not a surprise – the Mediterranean. The region drew about 18% of the market. Europe as a whole, settled in at 11%. This was followed by Asia, South Pacific, Alaska and South America was in at 2%.
It seems odd, but Alaska came in at single digits. That is a great cruise. They speak English and take American dollars! The season is just so short. First trips head out in May and the last stops about mid-September. The scenery is incomparable.
During my speaking career, I have been up north three times. The last one I skipped the tours and brought my hiking clothes and headed up into the hills. I have some great photos looking down at the ship.
Finally, I did notice that the Middle East is not even listed in the charts. Must be in the 13% of “other”destinations. I know they are building up harbors to entertain world visitors. We will be going soon to Abu Dhabi – Dubai – Mumbai – Phuket and Singapore. Can’t wait.
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Bill Belew, PhD, MFA, MSc also has a very interesting career. Bill spent a half dozen years in the US Navy climbing the enlisted ranks and making the jump to Lieutenant where he served as a Surface Warfare, Communications and Intelligence Officer. While aboard ship, in the Navy, he sailed enough nautical miles to circumnavigate the globeAfter his military time, Bill spent nearly 20 years in the Far East – Japan, China, Russia and India where he taught university and created and grew his own language school throughout Japan and Far East Russia.Bill speaks to audiences of all size, countless times yearly. He has a network of 4000+ individuals who follow him in the Silicon Valley Bay Area to learn about Social Media/inbound/content marketing. He is a weekly guest on the Social Network Station broadcast to 90+ countries from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.More than 75,000,000 people have viewed over 125,000,000 pages in his network of sites.Bill is represented by 4 cruise ship agencies that send him, literally, anywhere and everywhere in the world, and is a principal of SpeakOnCruises.com
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