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| To vacationers, cruising itself isn't everything
- cruise lines know that - but neither, it seems, is the onboard entertainment.
Younger vacationers want more than can be found on a boat, a consistent
trend throughout the tourist industry. Dennis Pinto of Micato Safaris
summed up the modern tourist climate saying, "today, clients want
a more in depth cultural experience." The cruise industry has been
quick to comply. |
Accepting the spacial limitations of even the largest cruise ship, cruise lines are expanding the number of available on shore excursions to target, what Jim Cammisa, the publisher of Travel Industry Indicators calls, "that active type of consumer who was turned off by the perception of the cruise as a passive vacation." Reminiscent of the competition for luxury between ocean liners at the beginning of the past century, in the 21st century, cruise lines are competing to offer the most authentic and exciting onshore experiences. |
Look Timmy- An authentic Mayan three-wheeler! |
| Passengers of today's cruise ships do not have free reign of their experiences when they reach their ports of call, however. The cruise lines try to maintain complete control over their passenger's excursions so they can continue to profit from them. For instance, a taxi driver in St. Lucia typically charges $20 for a full day tour of the island. Carnival Cruises buys up tour slots from operators and resells them to their passengers at a markup price on $64. Disney even bought its own island called Castaway Cay so they could keep all of the profits of one of its shore excursions. |
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Disney's island, Castaway Cay |
Because the cruise industry insists on controlling their passengers and their wallets, the economies of the islands they visit are given little opportunity for gain and, in some cases, are even crippled by the cruise lines. Back. |
| Sources: Grimm, Matthew. "Anchors Aweigh." American Demographics. Mar 2001 vol 23 no 3, p.74-5. Rosenberg, Janice. "Hardly Roughing it" Advertising Age v. 71 no 34 (Aug. 14 2000) p. s10. Wise, Jeff. "How Cruise Ships Shortchange the Caribbean." Fortune. Mar 29 1999. vol 139 no 6, p. 44. |
