81% of luxury passengers plan a cruise next year

Research by Mundy Cruising has revealed that 81 per cent of luxury cruise passengers plan on taking a cruise next year, although the majority will wait until they have been vaccinated first.

The findings were the first to be gleaned from Mundy’s new Cruise Expert Panel, which was launched to coincide with the cruise agencies 50th anniversary.

Just under half (47 per cent) of the survey respondents said that they would only cruise once they had been vaccinated and the majority of the population had been vaccinated, while a further 39 per cent said they would cruise once they had been vaccinated, even if the majority of the population had not.

“Our most recent survey has given us a lot of food for thought,” said Edwina Lonsdale, Mundy Cruising managing director, “but the overriding sentiment is one of cautious optimism regarding the resumption of cruising in 2021. Mundy clients are a well-travelled, well-informed and pragmatic bunch, so it’s no surprise to us that their responses are grounded in a realistic appraisal of where things stand.

“We know that a vaccine will take time to roll out, which is why the cruise lines are pressing ahead with their detailed and exhaustive plans to ensure that cruising post-Covid is safer than ever. Nevertheless, the recent flurry of good news has clearly given our clients a much-needed boost, with bookings significantly up since the vaccine announcements from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and now Oxford-AstraZeneca.”

The results also revealed that 9 per cent of respondents would go on a cruise regardless of a vaccine, while 3 per cent said they would go on a cruise without being vaccinated, provided the majority of the population had.

The survey also showed that most guests (51 per cent) would prefer to sail on a ship carrying between 50 and 500 guests, compared to 37 per cent before the pandemic. The amount favouring a ship carrying 1,000 guests or more dropped from 15 per cent to just 7 per cent.