Cruising, the new wave of travel

It seems that trend-watchers never get tired of tracking the baby boomer generation. The first wave of them are turning 60, and as travelers they are turning out to be the fittest, most active and most demanding group of pre-seniors in history. For the cruise industry, catering to this group is proving to be a rewarding challenge, with benefits for passengers of all ages.

The Norwegian Pearl may have its new bowling alley, and Royal Caribbean recently installed a Flowrider artificial wave simulator on its Freedom of the Seas, but what attracts the hard-working boomers is more than just on-board soft adventure. Here’s a look at five top trends in cruising this year, each one driven all or in part by the desires of 40-, 50- and early 60-year-olds who not only want to travel and relax somewhere in style, i.e. on a cruise ship, but who also crave a unique and memorable vacation.

Mid-Size Ships

Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are just three major cruise lines which have smartly added or refurbished smaller ships in fleets that have tended to make news for mega-cruisers like the 3,634-passenger Freedom of the Seas, mentioned above.

Ships with even greater capacity than Freedom’s are coming, but in the meantime there’s a growing market for a more intimate cruising experience.

The 700-passenger Regent Seven Seas Mariner and Voyager, for example, are all-suite, all-balcony ships. They offer some of the highest space and service ratios at sea, and feature restaurants run by the famous, Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. You won’t find ice rinks or climbing walls here, but the amenities will not disappoint. There are four main dining venues with open seating on each ship, allowing for the kind of mealtime flexibility passengers have come to expect, plus there are modern spas, fitness facilities, free computer classes and a sophisticated line-up of guest lecturers.

Holland America uses its 800-passenger Prisendam on long-range, exotic round-the-world voyages; a 2005 makeover resulted in ocean views for 93 percent of the staterooms, and private verandahs in 67 percent. For journeys around the Mediterranean, the 710-passenger Royal Princess (formerly Swan Hellenic’s Minerva II) is an ideal choice, with 2007 itineraries out of Barcelona, Athens, Rome and romantic Venice.

At the slightly grander end of the scale capacity-wise is Celebrity’s 1,750-passenger Century.

It spent six weeks in dry dock last June, emerging with 314 new verandahs, a men’s barber shop, an airy and serene new AquaSpa, and "boutique hotel chic" interiors for the staterooms, incorporating flat-screen televisions, Egyptian cotton bedding and oak paneling. What makes the mid-size ships so appealing? Reviewers consistently praise them for their "breathing room." As one Manhattan executive pointed out, "How often can you go up on deck and star-gaze and there’s absolutely nobody around?"

Enrichment Programs

You can bank on a cruise to put your brain in neutral and your body into full-on pampering mode, if that’s what you’re after. But for many passengers some uninterrupted sea time provides a perfect opportunity to learn something new in a safe, no-expectations environment.

On Crystal ships you can learn how to play the piano, each student seated at a professional-quality electronic keyboard, headphones in place.

Holland America Line’s $225-million, fleet-wide Signature of Excellence enhancements includes a Culinary Arts Center, a state-of-the-art show kitchen where guest chefs provide cooking demos and classes.

Princess Cruises’ Scholarship@Sea program blends traditional crafts with 21st century technology, teaching passengers to compile digital scrapbooks of their cruise photos, and to design personal web pages or blogs.

On Norwegian’s Hawaiian sailings, you can learn how to make a lei; on Cunard ships, you can learn Shakespearean acting techniques taught by alumni of London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Read more.