CruiseCompete, an online cruise marketplace that communicates with hundreds of thousands of travelers each year, highlighted three cruise trends for 2019: Dark-skies cruising, travel to ancestral countries and mystery experiences.
1. Dark-Skies Cruising
According to the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, light pollution affects 80 percent of Earth’s land mass and 99 percent of people in Europe and the United States. Cruising naturally takes passengers away from light pollution to where the stars are clearest. Companies like Princess Cruises have started offering stargazing nights with experts on hand to help guests.
With the northern lights high on many people’s bucket list, cruise lines have also begun designing itineraries around the experience. Programs take travelers to the dark skies of the sea, where views are clearest. Cunard, for example, will offer such a trip in November with its 12-night Norway and Northern Lights itinerary.
2. Exploring Your DNA
With genealogy ranked as the second most popular hobby in the United States, according to ABC News, travelers are increasingly looking to experience their family history in person. Ancestry.com has designed an 11-day tour, with the help of The Irish Ancestral Research Association, just for this audience. The Irish Ancestry Tour will visit Dublin, Cork, County Kerry and Galway while allowing for research time in archives and libraries along the way.
3. Mystery, Adventure and Spiritual Inspiration
The last trend CruiseCompete noted was mystery travel. Travel companies have begun introducing mystery tours and cruises where travelers do not know any details about the trip before it happens. When Intrepid introduced its first trip of this kind, it sold out nearly overnight. Saga has one and Fred Olsen has three similar cruises scheduled for 2019.
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