ODYBOAT Cruise Flow
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Market Peer-reviewed journal

Cruise lines sell itineraries, not destinations

For cruise lines a port is a replaceable stop on the itinerary; in the Caribbean, for instance, time ashore averages 4.3 hours.

The geography of cruises: Itineraries, not destinations — Rodrigue, J.-P.; Notteboom, T. · Applied Geography, 38, pp. 31–42 (Elsevier)

WhereCaribbean and Mediterranean
Year2013
SourceApplied Geography, 38, pp. 31–42 (Elsevier)
Strength of methodHigh

The question

How do cruise lines design itineraries and deploy ships in the two main markets (the Caribbean and the Mediterranean), and what does the fact that they sell itineraries rather than destinations mean for the role of ports of call?

The method

Descriptive geographical analysis based on two databases: US maritime administration data on all cruises calling at American ports (34,663 cruises, 2004-2011) and a commercial dataset tracking about 90% of the world fleet with ports of call and passengers; examples of individual ship deployments and a proposed functional typology of ports.

What the study finds

47%of cruises calling at US ports last seven daysIn data on cruises calling at US ports (2004-2011), the most common length is seven days (47%), followed by three-to-five-day trips; the typical itinerary is a loop leaving from and returning to the same home port.
4.3 hoursaverage time ashore in the CaribbeanIn the Caribbean ships usually arrive at dawn and sail in the evening, moving overnight, so time ashore is limited, averaging 4.3 hours.
≈ $100estimated average spend per port of callThe authors put a passenger's total cruise spending at about $1,700, mostly on board; at ports of call they spend about $100 each on average, over three to four calls on a typical one-week cruise (figures given without an explicit source).
13–14 MWof power drawn by a ship at berthA ship at berth can draw 13-14 MW of power, while a large city such as San Francisco uses about 900 MW, so supplying ships from shore is demanding for small grids such as those of a Caribbean island.
  • The rapid growth of Mediterranean cruising has caused congestion both at the quays and in nearby tourist districts, above all in Santorini, Venice and Dubrovnik; home ports such as Civitavecchia and Barcelona are also struggling to cope with the increase.
  • According to the authors, very strict environmental rules for ships and terminals in urban areas could lead cruise lines to call at, or build terminals in, less populated places, lengthening land transfers to historic cities and sites.
  • The authors propose three port types: 'destination', where the city itself is the goal and few excursions go beyond it (e.g. Venice, Barcelona); 'gateway', with few attractions of its own but serving a nearby goal (e.g. Civitavecchia for Rome, Livorno); and 'balanced', both a goal and a starting point for excursions (e.g. Piraeus, Lisbon).
Why it matters for ports and cities

The study stresses that for cruise lines a port is a replaceable stop on an itinerary they design: short calls and modest shore spending limit what a city can gain from a call. The distinction between destination, gateway and balanced ports helps ports and regions choose whether to focus on the city, the hinterland or both, and to manage congestion at the most sought-after places. The data date from 2004-2011.

Limitations

Descriptive analysis based largely on industry data and trade association reports (2009-2012), with many figures taken from secondary sources; it does not measure flows ashore or effects on cities. The data are now dated.

Full reference and source

Rodrigue, J.-P., Notteboom, T. (2013). The geography of cruises: Itineraries, not destinations. Applied Geography, 38, pp. 31–42 (Elsevier).

Read the original study ↗

Summary written by the ODYBOAT Observatory in our own words. Tables and figures belong to the authors.