Colorado Springs, CO.  Red Carpet Cruises, Cruise Vacation Specialists.

With the economy the way it is you’d think a World Cruise would be the last thing on people’s mind this year.  You’d think that, but you’d be wrong.  Cunard for example just announced in their words, “recession defying record bookings” for the recently released 2011 world cruise itineraries for the Queen Mary 2 and her sister ship, Queen Victoria.  Bookings are up 150% compared to the first day of sales for 2010 world cruises.  Between these world cruise itineraries the two Queens will visit 57 destinations in 34 countries! And while Cunard is undoubtedly the leader in the world cruise market, having sailed the first world cruise on the RMS Laconia in 1922, nine other cruise lines have joined the world cruise market over the last few years.

So what’s going on?  Why the recent surge in interest in world cruises? 

Well, I think there are a couple of reasons that are all working together.  First is the incredible value a world cruise represents. While you can indeed fork over a cool $240,000.00/per person for the grand duplex suite on the luxury Queen Mary 2, you can also take the exact same world cruise, on the exact same ship, for a mere $22,000/per person with inside stateroom accommodations. 

That’s an unbelievable value for a three-month vacation.  Think about it, a vacation that that takes you to more then thirty exotic destinations, on six continents, while providing you with delicious, top tier restaurant quality meals three times a day and oh yeah, nightly Broadway caliber entertainment.  All this while enjoying the amenities of your floating luxury hotel the entire journey.  All this for no extra charge.

The second factor is the change in the on-board experience.  The hardware (ships) has improved tremendously over the last decade and today’s cruise ships are true floating cities that offer an amazing array of amenities to enjoy each day. 

In addition to the physical wonder of these new billion dollar cruise ships you’ll find plenty of mental stimulation with the outstanding enrichment and education programs that have become an integral part of the world cruise experience today.  Celebrity speakers, usually experts on the topics being discussed, host many of these programs.

So the old days of cruising and snoozing, with maybe a titillating game of shuffleboard being the highlight of your on-board experience are long gone.

The #1 reason for increase in the popularity of World Cruises

But in my opinion the biggest change driving the increasing popularity of world cruises today is…technology and the Internet.  New ships today like Celebrity’s Solstice offer wireless access to the Internet throughout the entire ship.  Ten years ago, Internet access on board was just a glint in the eye of some cruise tekkies.

Today, not only has that vision been realized and implemented but you can pop out the ole laptop (or iPhone) anywhere on the ship and voila!  You’re connected, web enabled and ready to go!  And with satellite technology access cruise ships today have access to the Internet virtually 24-hours a day, anywhere in the world.

Who is the new World Cruise customer?

So with access to the web anywhere in the world, at any time, you are now seeing a totally different type of world cruise customer then the traditional older, retired person; business owners.

A world cruise is obviously not an inexpensive proposition but it’s all relative and to thousands of small business owners, the experience is well within their financial reach.  The problem hasn’t been the cost but the fact that for the majority of these world cruise prospects, they simply can’t be cut off from their business for months at a time.

With the advent of cruise ship Internet access available anywhere in the world, you’re seeing younger world cruise customers that have set up a floating office that cruises around the world! 

I was watching a video clip recently of one such world cruiser that was showing how he had set up video cameras around his manufacturing production floor.  He could visually check his daily operations and call or email his supervisors just as easily as he could from his home office on land.

As long as he was connected to his business on a daily basis, he felt confident enough to take advantage of running a successful business and travel the world with his wife now, while they were both still young, instead of waiting another fifteen or twenty years when he retired.

It’s always interesting to me to see how new technologies bring about changes in both people and business.  In this instance you can see how technology has enabled a whole new group of people to experience one of life’s great travel adventures, a world cruise.

How Red Carpet Cruises is using internet technology for customers

At our Red Carpet Cruises website, we’re also deploying Internet technology in a unique way to help our cruise customers.  Cruise customers are typically planning their cruise vacation 6-9 months in advance.  Potential world cruise customers are looking 1-2 years out.

With that much time to prepare, we’ve set up an auto payment option where customers can choose to have a certain amount of money automatically transferred from a checking or savings account to a Red Carpet Cruises travel debit card in their name.  A couple of clicks with the mouse and that’s all there is to it!

So when final payment date rolls around customers have all or a good portion of their cruise cost already set aside.  Now while there’s no reason you can’t start saving ahead of time on your own, there seems to be something about having technology magically do it for them that people just like!  And hey, if it gets more of our customers cruising, we’re all for technology!

Until next time, remember what St. Augustine once said;

“The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page”

Ric Rooney/Red Carpet Cruises

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