Here at Mundy we have long maintained that good things come in small packages when it comes to cruising, so we were delighted to find that nearly a third of luxury cruisers (30%) are planning to downsize to a smaller ship once coronavirus travel restrictions are lifted.
The majority of respondents (56%) plan to travel on a ship carrying 50-500 guests after coronavirus, compared to 44% who preferred this size of ship before - great news for cruise lines such as Windstar, Silversea and SeaDream Yacht Club. At the other end of the scale, just 7% of our clients would favour travelling on a ship carrying more than 1,000 guests in future, compared to 19% before the coronavirus pandemic.
The survey revealed that Mundy clients are bullish about their future travel plans, with the majority (63%) planning to cruise again in 2021 and a sizable minority (15%) hoping to return to the waves this year if possible. A further 20% plan to cruise in 2022 or later, while just 3% indicated that they would not cruise again. There was great news for river cruise lines, with 30% of respondents planning a river cruise for their next trip, while 11% expect their next cruise to be on board an expedition ship.
We also asked clients how far they would be willing to travel for their next cruise. Just over half said they would consider cruising from a UK port, with a similar number open to the idea of a short haul fly-cruise. Perhaps more surprisingly, 41% of respondents said they were prepared to consider a long haul trip for their next voyage.
When we asked our clients about their attitudes towards the coronavirus in general, we found that the majority were sanguine about the situation, happy to wait it out and looking forward to the future with optimism.
While the last few months have presented an unprecedented challenge to our industry, we are buoyed by our clients' confidence in the future and their excitement about cruising again. We're also delighted to see the cruise lines working together to ensure guests can return safely to their favourite type of holiday - read our in-depth article on cruising after coronavirus to find out more.
