Britons book cruises in record numbers

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Ongoing promotions featuring cut-price offers are encouraging Britons to book cruises in record numbers this year, according to reports from most leading cruise lines.

In spite of the current economic climate, Royal Caribbean is reporting a 40 per cent increase in bookings for January and February, as compared with the same months last year. Carnival, the largest cruise line in Britain, has said that it had more bookings during the last week of February than any other time in its 37-year history.

For January and February, Carnival’s bookings were up by approximately 25 per cent over the same two months in 2008. A Fred Olsen Cruises spokesperson confirmed that their sales were ahead of last year at this time as well.

Royal Caribbean’s general manager, Jo Rzymowska, agreed that the need for continuing sales promotions would impact profits, but added that no marked shift toward last-minute bookings was being seen, nor any increase in cancellations due to the recession. These claims are supported by the results of a recent Telegraph reader poll which showed that approximately 40 per cent of the respondents were booking their summer holiday six months or more prior to the date.

“We calculated the right approach but we’re by no means thinking his is going to be any easy ride for the rest of 2009 and into 2010,” Rzymowska said.

Thanks to www.telegraph.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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