Leisure & Travel

Growing popularity of cruise holidays

Contemporary vacationers are increasingly opting for leisure cruise holidays, now an option available around the world. A wide array of choices are offered by cruise liners sailing to 1,800 ports of call

Once upon a time before the invention of jumbo jets which sharply reduced the cost and time of international travel, people had the option to combine pleasure with business by crossing the high seas. Indeed in the good ole days the beau monde preferred to sail on luxury ocean liners which plied the international sea routes. The five-day crossing of the Atlantic from Southampton (UK) to New York was a preferred sea route which launched a thousand-plus movies, including the tragic tale of the Titanic.

However in the decade of the 1970s when the price of crude oil quadrupled twice and cost of air travel reduced sharply following the introduction of jumbo jets, the practice of travel by sea on business or pleasure became obsolete. Steamship passenger companies went into terminal decline and transformed into leisure cruise corporates offering people with time on their hands sun-drenched vacations on luxury floating hotels.

As seagoing vacations continue to grow in popularity, cruise lines have introduced new ports of call around the world. These days vacationers can choose from a wide array of options offered by leisure cruise companies around the world, which have formed an apex governing organisation christened Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Members of CLIA include all the big names of the leisure cruise industry including the first global cruise line Star Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Royal Caribbean. Currently cruise liners sail to over 1,800 ports of call on carriers varying from yacht-like ships ferrying 150 passengers, to mega vessels hosting more than 3,000 guests. Simply put, the cruise industry is booming and CLIA is confident that more than 12 million people will sign up for sea-cruise vacations on its member-line ships in the current calendar year. Different groups of travellers — from stressed-out professionals on a three-day Caribbean jaunt, to extended families on seven-day visits to Alaska, Europe or South-east Asia to intrepid adventurers — are increasingly opting for leisure cruise holidays, now an option available around the world.

According to CLIA statistics the cruise line market consists of over 127 million travellers, of whom 39 percent (over 49 million) have cruised previously and 50 percent during the past three years. "Leisure cruising’s continuing growth and increasing popularity reflects the fundamental value, guest satisfaction and broad appeal of cruise vacations today," says the Mumbai-based Vijay Puthran, senior manager (sales) of Star Cruises (India).

Adds Terry L. Dale, president and chief executive of CLIA: "The meteoric growth of the cruising industry from a boutique vacation to a mainstream travel option is testament to the changing holiday preferences of travellers worldwide and also to the innovative, passenger-pleasing ships launched year after year by cruise lines."

The leisure cruise industry is believed to have been invented by the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co (P&O) which dominated the UK-India sea routes in the 19th and 20th centuries. Certainly, novelist William Makepeace Thackeray essayed "Mediterranean cruises" aboard a series of P&O ships — Lady Mary Wood, Tagus and Iberia — in 1844, and published enthusiastic travelogues entitled Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo. Between the two great world wars, cruising became more popular with P&O often using their newest ships for the purpose. The Ranchi, built in 1925, cruised exten-sively from the beginning of her career, as did Viceroy of India built in 1929 for P&O’s UK-Bombay mail service.

The introduction of pleasure cruises to Alexandria and Bombay in 1907 turned out to be a project of lasting value for Austrian company Lloyd Triestino. These routes became their most profitable passenger lines and were maintained in spite of international competition until the 1970s.

Back home in Mumbai, the now defunct Scindia Steamship Co offered a 24-hour coastline hugging cruise from Mumbai to Goa along the palm-fringed Arabian Sea coast via Ratnagiri and a few other tiny ports. Despite the short duration of the voyage, passengers were entertained by games of housie steered by the captain and pre-paid meals were served in tiny dining halls. However by the end of the 1970s when flights to Goa became frequent, this service was discontinued.

Following the liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1991 and easing of foreign exchange restrictions imposed upon outward bound travellers, Indian tourists are flocking to hitherto forbidden foreign destinations in ever-increasing numbers. Indeed for the past few years the number of outward bound Indian tourists, estimated at 6 million in 2004, exceeds the aggregate annual inflow of a mere 3.9 million (cf. China’s 80 million). And incrementally prospe-rous Indian tourists are signing up for exotic leisure cruises in the Caribbean and elsewhere, despite stingingly expensive dollar-denominated tariffs.

However for those who are new to leisure cruise vacations and inclined to test the waters, more affordable cruises to nearby destinations is the best way to start. Travel companies and agencies offering leisure cruise options are listed below.

A pioneer of the leisure cruising business in India is Travel Corporation of India (TCI) which partnered with the Shipping Corporation of India to introduce cruises to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Lakshadweep and Singapore in the 1980s and 90s from Chennai.

Today, TCI is one of several tour operators offering luxe vacations on Star Cruises, the award-winning Asia-Pacific cruise line and one of the three largest worldwide. It also partners with Louis Cruise Lines to offer the Greek islands and Turkey Cruises. Among the other companies plying via TCI are Cunard Line India Cruises, Hebridean India Cruises, Holland America India World Cruises, Princess India Cruises, Seabourn India Cruises and Silver Sea Cruises. All of them offer custom designed vacations viz, honeymoon cruises, wild adventure cruises, small ship and special event cruises. E-mail meherbhandara@tci.co.in for details.

The most popular of the Star Cruises are the four-night Phuket-Chennai, two-night Chennai-Colombo, and sundry cruises between Mumbai, Kochi, Lakshadweep and Goa which offer luxury and affordability to newly weds, businessmen, and senior citizens. Superstar Libra liners take Indian voyagers to Lakshadweep, Kochi and Goa ex Mumbai. For further information contact Vijay Puthran Tel: 91-22-22884994.

South of the Vindhyas, Vrinda Luxury Cruises offer a five day-four nights cruise through the tranquil backwaters of Kerala past Pathiramanal Island, Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom and Kuttanad. VLC offers air-conditioned cabins equipped with digital video players, attached bathrooms, electronic safes and international and regional cuisine. Price: single occupancy US$ 1,350; double occupancy US$ 1,450.

Take a meandering, personalised slow boat cruise with this company which offers luxury houseboats designed by Mehernosh P.H. Shroff, the 12th Mani Wadia Master Builder on rent. Mani Wadia Master Builders have been building, designing and financing ships since time immemorial. Today’s teakwood house-boats are fully classed in 1,2, 3 & 4 bedrooms and built at their ancestral yards (est. 1566) in Billimora and Surat. The houseboats sail the high seas from Mumbai to Goa, Kerala (25 different rivers and lakes) and Calcutta. SeaWorthy also offers houseboat cruises in Dubai, Qatar, Djibouti, Egypt, United Kingdom, USA, and Australia. E-mail: seaworthy@vsnl.com.

Interestingly, most luxury cruise vacations abroad are patronised by senior citizens, whereas mid-range cruise liners like the SuperStar Libra plying the waters closer home are favoured by upper middle class young Indians — newly weds from Baroda, families with small children from Delhi and IT executives from Bangalore and Chennai. SuperStar Libra is also a favoured option of the corporate sector which offer incentive holidays to high performing employees. Fully equipped with restaurants and bars, shops, photo gallery, internet cafe, beauty salon, meeting room, golf driving range, deck swimming pool, jacuzzi, basketball court and jogging track they offer all the leisure facilities of on-shore holidays.

Moreover, cruises uniquely provide both family ‘together-time’ and ‘alone-time’. In addition to organised activities, children can enjoy water parks and video jukeboxes in dedicated private clubs, even as parents stretch out on adults-only sundecks or wallow in relaxing hot baths and aromatic massages.

With the onset of the monsoon, the SuperStar Libra will be ending her season in India at the end of May and will begin the summer season in the Eastern Mediterranean from her homeport of Valletta, Malta on June 6. Other ships from Star Cruises’ 22-strong fleet will ply in South-east Asia. SuperStar Virgo sails from Singapore to exotic islands in Malaysia and Thailand; the SuperStar Leo sails from Hong Kong to China and Vietnam. Superstar Libra returns to Indian shores around October.

Most cruise package prices don’t include return airfares. However Star Cruises’ offers uniquely fashioned fly/cruise packages of 6D/5N ex Mumbai, Kadmat (Lakshadweep) , Goa & Mumbai with Air Sahara and Jet Airways. Star Cruises also provides ‘flycruises’ to Egypt, the Aegean Isles, Italy, the Adriatic, Hawaii and Alaska and imaginatively conceived Coach Cruise packages. For further enquiries, e-mail: pbhakti@ starcruises.com.my

TCI-Louis Cruise Lines offer a three-night Greek island and Turkey cruise package starting with breakfast in Athens, and a half day tour of this culturally rich city. Return airfare and hotel-port-hotel transfers are included in fares starting Rs.44,555/-

Go Cruises sends around 400 passengers each year on Star Cruises’ Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) which ply the waters of the Mediterranean and Alaska, with ports of call in Barcelona, Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, Pisa and Nice.

Costa cruises sails to Europe and is reportedly the #1 line on the continent. Prices start at US $999 (Rs.45,000) per head excluding airfare on NCL while Costa’s prices range between US$1,000-1,200 (Rs.45,000-54,000) per day for cruises starting from Venice to eastern Mediterreanean, Italian, Greek and Turkish ports. The Western Mediterranean cruise covers Italy, Spain, Malta and France, while Scandinavian Cruises start from Copenhagen. Prices range from US$ 509 per person, double occupancy.

In Indian maritime waters, Star Cruises offers the luxury cruise experience to the Indian public at competitive prices. Prices in low season for a single night’s ocean cruise start at Rs.3,600 per person (twin sharing) to Rs 4,600 per person in the peak (October-February) season.

Ronita Torcato (Mumbai)