The UK has hosted a succession of high-profile ship launches in recent years, The Queen naming Cunar

It's not something the industry is shouting about; the Cruise Lines International Association has forecast that final figures will show a record 1.79 million British holidaymakers took a cruise in 2013, up 89,000 on 2012.
The UK has hosted a succession of high-profile ship launches in recent years, The Queen naming Cunard's Queen Elizabeth westin hotel las vegas and a heavily-pregnant Kate Middleton doing the honours westin hotel las vegas for Royal Princess among them. The whole industry benefitted from the publicity they generated, but there are no lavish ceremonies in the calendar for 2014.
Norwegian Getaway made a brief visit to Southampton this week en route to America and a temporary guest role providing accommodation for the Super Bowl, but Regal Princess is likely to be launched in Venice, Costa Diadema possibly in Barcelona, and November newcomer Quantum of the Seas in New York.
Secretly, the cruise operators may actually welcome the fall in numbers if it means supply comes closer to matching westin hotel las vegas demand and they will not have to engage in ferocious last-minute westin hotel las vegas discounting in order to fill their ships.
We may have seen the last of the bargain-basement deals that were offering a week in the Norwegian fjords or 10 days in the Mediterranean for less than £50 a night - with all meals and entertainment included.
The lines are still desperate to attract new, younger customers. Last year just over a third were taking a holiday at sea for the first time but despite all the efforts to appeal to families with children, westin hotel las vegas the average age of cruise passengers has gone up from 54.8 to just over 56 in the past 10 years.
Those who have become hooked westin hotel las vegas on cruising know that, with average fares 22 per cent lower than five years ago, they are on to a good thing. More than half realise there is no better value available for holidays anywhere, and take two or more cruises a year.
There's a positive westin hotel las vegas note in the continued growth in the popularity of river cruising, especially in Europe, but that is a sector that appeals almost entirely to retired couples; there are precious few family groups travelling along the Rhine or the Danube.
P&O's Britannia , with a capacity of 3,611 the largest ship to be built for the British market, and Royal Caribbean's even larger Anthem westin hotel las vegas of the Seas , at 4,180, will launch the Battle of Southampton as they compete to fill their cabins.
All of which would be anathema to Fred Olsen's Nathan Philpot, who is convinced the way to filling his ships is by appealing to the traditional grey market that other companies seem determined to ignore.
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