The Latest Trends Ahead of Cruising's Return

Online cruise marketplace CruiseCompete has released its CruiseTrends report for May 2021, peeling back the curtain to reveal the trends in consumer behavior for cruise travel ahead of the industrys' long-awaited return. As has been the case throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there continues to be a ton of interest in cruising, with CruiseComplete reporting more than 25,000 cruise quotes per month. Here are some of the key takeaways heading into the summer.

Royal Caribbean International continues to lead the way in terms of the most popular premium cruise line, edging out stiff competition from fellow Royal Caribbean Cruises subsidiary Celebrity Cruises and third-place Norwegian Cruise Line. In the luxury category, Oceania Cruises claims the top spot for May, followed by Crystal Cruises and Viking Ocean Cruises. Finally, American Queen Steamboat Company surpassed American Cruise Lines for the number one river cruise line, with Viking River Cruises once again finishing third.

Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Apex is the most popular premium cruise ship as of May 2021, with Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and Celebrity Equinox rounding out the top three. Crystal Cruises' Crystal Serenity is the leading luxury ship heading into summer, overtaking Oceania Cruises' Riviera and Marina. Meanwhile, American Queen Steamboat Company owns the river category, with American Queen, American Duchess and American Countess ranking as the top three river cruise ships at the moment.

Mexico and the Bahamas reign supreme when it comes to the most popular cruise ports. Just a short trip from Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Cozumel ranks as the top premium cruise port, followed by Royal Caribbean's private island destination Perfect Day at CocoCay and the Bahamian capital of Nassau. Luxury cruise passengers are more interested in Castries, Saint Lucia; San Juan, Puerto Rico and Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The United States, Mexico and the Caribbean continue to be the most sought-after premium cruise destinations. The Bahamas, Mexico, the U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Dutch Caribbean-which includes destinations like Aruba, Curacao and Saint Maarten-are among the hottest destinations for contemporary cruise ship guests while luxury cruise passengers have shown the most interest in Greece, Italy and Spain. When it comes to river cruising, the U.S. and Europe have garnered the most interest, with second-place Germany edging out Hungary, Austria, France and the Netherlands.

Cruise passengers continue to show the most interest in balcony cabins, with staterooms with views prevailing across all three segments in May 2021. After the balcony, outside and inside staterooms are the most popular. Seven-night itineraries are also the hottest cruise length heading into the summer with 10-day and eight-day sailings also gaining lots of momentum.

Only about one-quarter of cruise passengers have shown interest in purchasing travel insurance to protect their trip, according to CruiseComplete's May 2021 trends report. River cruise guests (30 percent) are the most likely to be interested in travel insurance, followed by luxury cruise passengers (26 percent) and premium cruise guests (17 percent).