ABOUT 30 million people are expected to take a cruise somewhere in the world this year, up from under 29 million in 2018. The cruise sector now provides a living for over a million employees, afloat and ashore, and pays them a total of over US$45 billion. This year there are 272 ships in operation, among them 18 newly built vessels.
In other words, cruising is really big business and the ships themselves are getting bigger. The statistics come from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). It has more than 50 members, including ocean, river and speciality cruise operators. CLIA represents more than 95 per cent of global cruise capacity.
Earlier this year, the CLIA was one of three organisations...