1. Seniors are free to cruise out of season and often prefer it because cruise ships are quieter and bargain rates and senior discounts are available.

2. Seniors have been around, traveled a lot, so many seniors nowadays look for exotic itineraries and destinations that are off the beaten track. "Soft adventure" is the byword and cruise lines are responding with trips to Alaska and Antarctica, Black Sea and Eastern European ports among others. Cruise lines hold the opinions of seniors in high regard and will present new cruise itineraries to senior groups to help fine tune and improve the cruise.

3. It takes about three months to cruise around the world, stopping at 30 ports or more. Seniors are among the few classes of travelers who have the time to do it and world cruises are becoming more popular than ever.

4. Shipboard lectures are nothing new, but learning programs about everything from art to computers, history and politics are becoming all the rage with seniors who enjoy the chance to learn something new without the pressures of exams and degrees. Crystal Cruises, is one of several cruise companies that have recently introduced new learning programs Swan Hellenic has always emphasized the history and culture of the ports visited, with on board teams of experts to lecture and answer questions. And Holland American Lines is rolling out a new Culinary Arts Center program across its cruise fleet.

5. Seniors like to keep fit but many have to be careful about their choice of fitness regimes. Senior-friendly shipboard exercise these days is more likely to include yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, wellness and wellbeing courses and many others.

6. Water-based exercise and treatments are also very popular with seniors on cruises. Many of the newer cruise ships have spas and facilities for thalassotherapy.

7. Seniors watch their diets. Low calorie options and choices are not new, but more and more cruise ships are making a real effort to cater for special dietary requirements of all kinds.

With families, younger couples and younger singles discovering cruising, it's gratifying to see that the cruise industry still recognizes the senior passengers who have kept it afloat for years and helped improve the cruising experience for everyone.

The cruise industry is the most exciting growth category in the entire leisure market. Since 1980, the industry has had an average annual passenger growth rate of 8.1% per annum.

The cruise industry is young. Since 1980, nearly 100 million passengers have taken a deep-water cruise (2+ days). Of this number, 61% of the total passengers have been generated in the past 10 years. Thirty seven percent of total passengers have been generated in the past five years alone.

Over the next three years, over 48 million North Americans indicate an intent to cruise. To date, approximately 16% of the U.S. population target market have ever cruised. By maintaining historical occupancy levels, the cruise industry could welcome over 10 million guests in 2004.

Taking a cruise is incredibly diversified with literally a cruise vacation for everyone. Over the past 10 years, the industry has responded to extensive market and consumer research: research that has guided the addition of new destinations, new ship design concepts, new on-board/on-shore activities, new themes and new cruise lengths to reflect the changing vacation patterns of today’s market.

A cruise vacation delivers unparalleled customer satisfaction. Whether a frequent or first-time cruiser, the cruise experience consistently exceeds expectations on a wide range of important vacation attributes. On a comparative basis versus other vacation categories, cruising consistently receives top marks. The on-going challenge for our industry is to convert cruise prospects into new cruisers.

Cruising is an important vehicle for sampling destination areas to which passengers may return. Over 85% of cruise passengers agree with this statement. Nearly 50% fully expect to return to the same geographical area/destination for another type of vacation. Cruisers are not exclusively cruisers; rather they are frequent vacationers who cruise as part of their vacation mix.

The North American cruise market is strong across all 50 states and Canada. Today's array of airlift options and streamlined port processing have opened up cruising as a vacation alternative to more and more individuals. The addition of new North American embarkation ports provides cruise vacationers more options and opportunities to drive versus fly.

CLIA Member Lines capacity utilization/deployment. From a capacity standpoint, utilization is consistently over 90%. The Caribbean represents the number one destination with almost 46% of capacity development. Europe, the Mediterranean, Alaska, Mexico, Trans-Canal, Hawaii and South America follow the Caribbean in popularity.

CLIA Cruise Industry Overview
MARKETING EDITION - Spring 2006

CRUISE VACATIONS COMPARED TO OTHER VACATIONS

	Rep Sample (2004)	Rep Sample (2005)	Cruisers	Non- Cruiser Vaca tioner	Cruiser Types
					Desti nations	Luxury	Premium	Contem porary
Being pampered	69%	63%	77%	55%	79%	80%	87%	78%
Chance to visit several locations	67	62	77	54	79	76	84	79
Fine dining	70	57	72	49	71	70	81	74
Luxurios	67	57	67	51	57	67	78	69
Unique & different	NA	54	67	46	58	67	72	68
Get away fom it all	61	53	69	43	63	76	78	70
High quality entertainment	58	51	65	43	42	63	74	70
Hassle-free	54	50	70	40	58	74	78	71
Variety of activities	50	50	65	42	67	54	69	69
Easy to plan and arrange	50	46	64	36	33	59	69	66
Romantic getaway	55	45	53	40	37	44	62	55
Exiting and adventurous	51	45	58	39	46	50	60	61
Explore vacation area/Return later	51	44	61	35	58	57	65	65
Fun vacation	45	40	55	32	50	59	64	58
Good value for the money	42	36	57	24	54	59	67	62
Cultural learning experience	47	34	44	28	46	44	51	44
Reliable	42	34	53	23	33	46	63	55
Safe	33	29	48	20	25	44	57	49
Confortable Accommodations	37	27	39	21	29	35	48	41
Good activities for children	31	26	28	26	28	13	17	28
Participate in sports you enjoy	22	19	24	17	17	17	24	26

Base: Cruisers and vacationers

Degree to Which Attributes Influenced Last Vacation
Reinforcing the strength of the destination as a driver of vacation choice, random travelers assigned an average 8.7 importance rating for it on a 10-point importance scale. Price (7.2) and best opportunity to relax and unwind (7.1) are also highly valued.

There is little difference between cruisers and non-cruisers with respect to these attributes, although cruisers appear to place a slightly higher value on their vacation offering a unique vacation experience.

DEGREE TO WHICH ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCED LAST VACATION

	Rep Sample (2006)	Cruisers	Non- Cruiser Vaca tioner	Cruiser Types
				Desti nations	Luxury	Premium	Contem porary
The destination	8.7	8.7	8.7	9.3	8.3	8.9	8.7
The price	7.2	7.3	7.1	7.4	7.2	7.4	7.4
Best oportunity to relax and unwind	7.1	7.1	7.1	7.3	7.2	7.1	7.2
Fit my vacation schedule/days available	6.8	6.5	7.0	5.6	5.8	6.5	6.5
Offered a unique experience	6.7	7.0	6.6	7.6	7.2	7.2	7.0
The convenience	6.6	6.8	6.6	6.6	6.7	7.0	6.8
The paricular hotel/resort property or cruise ship	5.6	6.5	5.1	7.5	6.8	7.1	6.7
Good programs for children and family	4.1	3.8	4.4	2.1	3.4	3.6	3.7

Base: Cruisers a vacationers
Note: Data is based on a 10-point scale where "10" is "most influence" and "1" is "did not influence at all"

Satisfaction Levels with Various Vacation Alternatives
The small percentage (8%) of travelers who vacation at all-inclusive resorts assign them the highest praise, with the largest percentage (60%) of travelers assigning extremely satisfied to them. Cruising places nearly as high (58%). Vacation house rentals ranks third (51%) then a large gap exists for the next cluster of satisfying vacation types. All types show moderate to substantial satisfaction gains since the 2002 study.

LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WITH TYPES OF VACATIONS
% EXTREMELY SATISFIED

	2004	2005	2006
	Total	Rep Sample	Rep Sample	Cruisers	Non-cruiser vacationers
Cruise vacation/Ocean-sea voyage	34%	43%	58%	56%	--
Visit to friend/relatives	29	34	43	45	41%
Land-based package	24	30	43	43	41
Camping trip	33	30	42	43	43
Vacation house rental	30	29	51	52	51
Trip(non-package)	23	28	41	44	39
Resort vacation (own arrangement)	24	27	41	47	41
Resort vacation (package)	NA	27	36	38	36
Land-based escorted tour	24	26	45	42	47
Vacation: Part of a business trip	19	25	30	36	27
Vacation at all-inclusive resort	NA	NA	60	60	61