Cruise Itinerary Research Articles

Advancing river cruise product design: insights from cross-quality elasticity of river cruises to ocean cruises

ABSTRACT This paper puts forward the concept of cross-quality elasticity, leveraging the commonalities of river and ocean cruise tourism, and develops a cross-quality elasticity equation with price, quality, and popularity as independent variables, while market share as dependent variable, calculating the cross-quality elasticity for river cruise tourism relative to ocean one. A model is developed for optimising river cruise itinerary and ship choice based on the cross-quality elasticity and the constraints of river channel capacity and itinerary type, to maximise the increased profits for river cruise operators. In the case study on the segments of Chongqing-Wuhan, Wuhan-Shanghai and Nanjing-Zhoushan along the Yangtze River, the home ports, ports of call, order of call, days of cruise travel, adoptions of cruise ships, and the number of tourists shifting from ocean cruise market have been determined. The results indicate that well-designed river cruises can expand the market of river cruise tourism; popularity exerts a moderating influence on the relationship between cruise quality and consumer demand; river cruise of high quality may serve as a viable alternative for consumers accustomed to ocean cruises.

Exploring motivation via three-stage travel experience: how to capture the hearts of Taiwanese family-oriented cruise tourists

The cruise market has significant potential for family travel as birth rates continue to decline. To explore the reasons behind family cruise travel, passenger needs, and the three stages of cruise travel experience (anticipation, participation, and recall), this study employs qualitative research and in-depth survey methods. The study’s findings indicate that motivations for joining family cruise travel include "new experiences," "desire for cruise travel," "convenience," and "generating social topics/publicity." During the anticipation and recall stages, the most significant factors are the "port of call" and the "destination" of the cruise itinerary. Additionally, other important aspects include the dining options on the cruise. In the participation stage, the study reveals that cabins, entertainment, and special considerations for children hold particular significance. These results can provide valuable guidance in the planning of family cruise travel.

A two-objective optimization of ship itineraries for a cruise company

This paper deals with the problem of cruise itinerary planning which plays a central role in worldwide cruise ship tourism. In particular, the Day-by-day Cruise Itinerary Optimization (DCIO) problem is considered. Assuming that a cruise has been planned in terms of homeports and journey duration, the DCIO problem consists in determining the daily schedule of each itinerary so that some Key Performance Indicators are optimized. The schedule of an itinerary, i.e. the sequence of visited ports, the arrival and departure time at each port, greatly affect cruise operative costs and attractiveness. We propose a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation of the problem with the objective of minimizing the itinerary cost due to fuel and port costs, while maximizing an itinerary attractiveness index. This latter is strongly related to the ports visited as well as to the overall schedule of the itinerary. Therefore the problem turns out to be a bi-objective optimization problem. We provide its solution in terms of Pareto optimal solution points. Each single objective MILP problem which arises is solved by using an exact algorithm, implemented in a commercial solver. We consider the day-by-day itineraries of a major luxury cruise company in many geographical areas all over the world. Here we report, as illustrative examples, the results obtained on some of these real instances.

Are cruise cost factors affected by the place and the size of the cruise company?

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect and influence the cost of a cruise company, within the frame of different cruise ship sizes and operations in dissimilar geographic areas. For the purposes of this research, a small (deluxe) cruise company (SCC), offering specialized programs, and a larger (mass) cruise company (LCC), headquartered in Greece and operating in the East Mediterranean, are compared; two similar types of companies, headquartered in Italy, and operating in the Central Mediterranean, were selected for a comparison study. The methodology applied is the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Our study argues for the significance of cruise ship size and the cruise operation area to the general cost of a cruise ship, as well as to differentiations on specific cruise factors. Financial cost is the major driver for the total cost for SCCs, as well as for LCCs, in both countries. For instance, a shipping company could decide whether to operate in a specific market, based on destination selection with the specific cost factors, and which size of cruise ship could minimize certain cost components for the vessel and, eventually, for the cruise itinerary and the company. The results have significant implications for cruise ship management and operations, but also contribute to the limited existing literature.

Cruise ship itinerary design considering port attractiveness for passengers

Cruise tourism has been a fast-growing industry and one of the key factors of success in this industry is the ability to create highly seductive itineraries, capable of attracting tourists while maximizing the total profit for the cruise shipping company. Itineraries must be carefully selected, combining a maximization of the total attraction value of the itinerary, given by the destinations and attractions included, with the minimization of the total cost of the itinerary. The objective of this paper is to develop a mixed integer programming optimization model to find optimum cruise ship itineraries. The model presented in this paper calculates cost and revenue of the itinerary separately, using a cost structure based on the cruise ship's size and the duration of the itinerary, and a revenue structure based on the month of the year and the selected ports attractiveness. An application is made to evaluate possible new optimal cruise itineraries along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. The results confirm that an increased profit is possible during the Summer season and show clear opportunities for new cruise itineraries in this region, calling ports which are not currently involved in cruising activities, but which present advantages for cruise itinerary design as transit ports or suitable gateways for major attractions.

Cruisers' intention of returning to European destinations: A regression analysis

AbstractRepeat visitation is regarded as a desirable phenomenon in destination marketing. This topic takes on a particular interest in cruise tourism, where the first visit may depend on the cruise itinerary. This paper investigates cruise passengers' intention to revisit European destinations. It is based on the results of a wider study conducted by the Costa Group, Deloitte, and the Universities of Genoa and Hamburg, which assesses the direct, indirect, and induced impact of the Costa Group and its supply chain in Europe. In this study, we developed an online questionnaire survey for guests who had cruised with Costa and AIDA ships in 2018 to 12 ports in six European countries. This paper focuses on the results of the questionnaire delivered to Costa cruisers (21,985 responders) to investigate their intention to return. We adopted a logistic regression and found that the probability of cruisers returning depends positively on factors such as the geographic area of residence, visit duration, and expenditure ashore. Our research suggests that cruises are drivers for land‐based tourism and fuel a desire among cruisers to revisit destinations. Finally, we present management recommendations for policymakers and destinations managers to develop win–win territorial marketing strategies with cruise industry.

Shore excursions of cruise destinations: Product categories, resource allocation, and regional differentiation

Shore excursions are an important element of the leisure cruise product, reflecting the perceived attractiveness of a cruise itinerary and thus influencing the overall cruise experience. This research systematically explores characteristics of global cruise shore excursions using data collected from one of the world's largest cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International, which markets seven shore excursion categories and 3259 individual excursion products distributed in 458 cruise ports of call around the world. By using content analysis, word frequency analysis, and sematic network analysis, this study revealed a core-periphery structure of shore excursion categories and identified the relationship between shore excursions and relevant local resources (e.g., natural and cultural resources, tourist products, facilities, experiences, and activities). Additionally, means analysis and regression analysis highlight regional differentiation in terms of type, positioning or image, duration, and price of cruise excursions. Findings suggest that destinations which use the research methodology applied here can identify critical local resources needed for shore excursion products that will meet cruise line demand and satisfy cruise passengers. • Shore excursions determine the attractiveness of a cruise itinerary. • Data covers 7 excursion categories, 3259 individual products and 458 cruise ports. • A core-periphery structure exhibits pattern and mode of shore excursion categories. • The association between shore excursions and relevant local resources is identified. • Regional differentiation in terms of various dimensions are highlighted.

ENHANCING THE DESTINATION IMAGE THROUGH PROMOTING POPULAR RIVER CRUISE DESTINATIONS

The sector of cruise tourism is growing in both subdivisions: river and ocean cruises. The most popular river cruise destinations in Europe are connected with historical places around big rivers such as the Danube, Rhine, Volga and others. One cruise itinerary consists of several tourist destinations, well-known and unknown for the cruise tourist, and creates one tourist destination combined with different ports of call. The well-known ports of call such as Paris, Vienna, St. Petersburg are the main attraction for the tourists.
 Among them there are some ports of calls which the tourist is not familiar with before visiting them. River cruise tourists have the opportunity to discover smaller cities in the chosen country or visit a new country as a tourist destination. For the areas where tourism is in a very early developing stage it is crucial to create a unique destination image which could influence the future choice of the tourists and bring them back.
 The study focuses on the main objective of exploring the attitudes of tourists traveling on two European river cruise routes, their experience and satisfaction within the visited destinations. Тhe research has a scientifically applied character, outlining certain attitudes that would be of interest to the business operating on river cruise destinations. Research results show that popular cities are a pull factor for river cruise tourism. Integrating them into the tourism offer as part of the long-term tourism planning would bring benefits to the destination by contributing to the creation of a unique and attractive destination image and growing popularity.

Determination of Seasonality Patterns in the Transport of Cruise Travellers Through Clustering Techniques

The tourist attraction of a cruise itinerary is composed of the on board experience plus the shore-based experience. Due to the positive dynamism of the cruise industry since the beginning of the twenty-first century, cruise lines are driven to innovate to create new experiences that help maintain high demand rates. From the point of view of creating new experiences on land, cruise lines move their vessels from one destination region to another to maximise the vessel's occupancy and to offer itineraries with a wider variety of shore-based attractions. These new itinerary designs lead to alterations in the seasonality patterns of the neighbouring regions. In this work, the 17 most important cruise ports located in the northeast quadrant of the Atlantic Ocean are analysed to find groups of ports with homogeneous seasonality patterns using clustering techniques. The analysis showed two different seasonality patterns. Consequently, some implications to improve the use of the ports of both clusters are included.

Waste Management on Board Disney Cruise Line Company Ships

This article presents the waste management on board Disney Cruise Line (DCL) company ships. In previous papers, we focused on the environmental policies of the DCL company, on the cruise itinerary waste management plans for the enterprise’s ships, waste collection, sorting and storage and food waste management on DCL ships, as well as on dangerous and medical waste management on board DCL company ships. The paper consists of an analytical view of the environmental personnel’s activities, in-house regulations and of various recordings and field observations. It presents detailed information on waste collection, sorting and transportation on board company ships, as well as on waste processing, storage and disposal procedures, waste registers and reports filed by employees, White Data Box and the equipment used for waste processing and recycling. The study concludes that the DCL company is committed to minimizing its fleet’s environmental impact by means of adopting new technologies, generating less waste, training its staff and instructing its guests, and raising awareness on environmental issues. In 2013, the company was declared the most environmentally-responsible cruise line. All crew members must fully comply with the DCL company’s environmental requirements and policy. Both employees and customers must pay attention to the practices that can result in accidental pollution. Waste collection procedures and the prevention of improper waste disposal are carefully monitored at all times. DCL makes continuous efforts to minimize waste amounts and associated risks on its ships. This entails using the appropriate storage, use and disposal procedures, and extends all the way to operation and event planning and supply and consumable purchases. DCL’s environmentally friendly vision is best described by these values and actions: thorough bookkeeping, monitoring, double-checking, awareness, continuous communication. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15551/lsgdc.v46i2.06

Waste Collection, Sorting and Storage and Food Waste Management on Disney Cruise Line Ships

This paper presents the waste collection, sorting and storage on Disney Cruise Line (DCL) company ships, as well as in-house food waste management procedures. In a previous paper, we singled out the DCL company’s environmental policies, as well as the cruise itinerary waste management plans for the enterprise’s ships. The paper analyses the in-house environmental personnel’s activity, the company’s internal regulations, and relevant data and field observations collected by the environmental protection staff, and presents data on the collection, sorting and storage of the waste generated by DCL cruise ships, and details food waste processing and discharge methods. The paper confirms the DCL company’s intention to minimize its fleet’s environmental impact by implementing the appropriate waste collection, sorting and storage methods, as well as by reducing food waste amounts and ensuring an efficient food waste management. In 2013, DCL was declared the most environmentally-responsible cruise line, according to the Cruise Industry Environmental Report Card. All crew members are charged with complying with environmental requirements and DCL’s environmental policy. Both crew members and customers must pay attention to practices that can accidentally result in food waste pollution. Food waste collection and the prevention of improper overboard spillage of waste are carefully supervised by everyone on board. The DCL company makes constant efforts to reduce food waste amounts and associated risks to a minimum across its commercial fleet. This entails using proper waste storage and disposal procedures, as well as planning the supply of raw materials and food ingredients

Dynamism Patterns of Western Mediterranean Cruise Ports and the Coopetition Relationships Between Major Cruise Ports

Abstract The Mediterranean Sea has seen an increase of ports hosting cruise ships during the first fifteen years of the 21st century. The increase in cruise ship presence in Mediterranean ports is associated with the dynamism of cruise traffic in recent years, with an average annual growth of 7.45% for cruise passengers worldwide during the period of 1990-2015. Cruise traffic is a maritime business that is primarily composed of two elements, maritime affairs and tourism. This article focuses on the maritime component. With the growth of the cruise industry, cruise lines have been forced to seek new ports to meet demand in an attempt to create differentiated products based on the ports that compose the itinerary. The itinerary system of cruise traffic makes the cruise ports depend on one another to design an itinerary. This feature results in both complex geographic relationships in the design of a cruise itinerary and complex competitive/cooperative relationships between ports. The aim of this article is to present the hierarchic picture of a sample of 29 cruise ports in the Western Mediterranean region during the period of 2000-2015. To achieve this goal, a port size classification is proposed and a shift-share analysis at the inter- and intra-group size level is applied. Moreover, concentration measures are used to determine the changes in the levels of market concentration. Furthermore, a dynamic model is proposed to determine the competitive or cooperative relationships between cruise ports. The proposed model is applied to the largest ports with data from the 2001-2015 period.

Dynamic programming algorithms for selection of waste disposal ports in cruise shipping

The cruise industry has maintained a steady growth in the past 20 years. Due to the large number of cruise passengers and regulations on sea environment protection, determining at which ports to dispose of the waste generated onboard a cruise ship is a key decision to reduce the cost for a cruise company. We address four versions of the problem: the cruise itinerary is either static or dynamic and the amount of waste generated on each voyage leg is either deterministic or stochastic. We propose a polynomial-time solution algorithm for the static deterministic model, and the idea of the algorithm can also be used to solve the static stochastic model and the dynamic deterministic model. Second, we identify the structure of the optimal policy to the dynamic stochastic problem, based on which an efficient dynamic programming algorithm is developed. Extensive numerical experiments derived from problems of real-case scales demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.

An optimization model to design a new cruise itinerary: the case of Costa Crociere

This work analyses the complex processes for the development of cruises’ itineraries to offer on the market and proposes a mathematical model for determining a new itinerary maximizing revenues, customers satisfaction, while minimizing operative costs. This work represents one of the first attempt to apply optimization techniques to cruise shipping and has been realized in collaboration with Costa Crociere, a cruise company operating in Europe.

Strategic positioning analysis of Spanish cruise ports

Purpose Cruise traffic has dynamically advanced worldwide over the past two decades. This maritime business and tourism typology is strongly concentrated in several links that comprise the cruise product. With regard to destination regions, the concentration occurs both in the few worldwide destination regions and in the specific ports within a given destination region. Moreover, in a cruise itinerary’s configuration, there is a strong spatial dependence between the ports that comprise it. Taking these into account, the aims of this paper are to identify the current competitive positions of Spanish cruise ports and to explain the different features of the competitive positions obtained. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 21 Spanish ports is selected to conduct a competitive positioning analysis. The analysis is developed by applying portfolio analysis based on the “growth-share matrix” adapted to the port industry. Moreover, the sample of ports is divided into three groups based on geographical positions of ports on the Spanish coast, and each group is analysed separately. Findings The three Spanish coastal areas have a behavioural pattern in which few ports concentrate the greater share of the cruising activity. The highest number of competitive positions are mature leader and high potential. In the three Spanish coastal areas, there are ports with these positions. Additionally, there are homeports available in the three coastal areas. Originality/value The paper contributes to the research of the cruise industry sector especially from the point of view of cruise ports. The results obtained may be useful to cruise port managers for developing strategies aimed at increasing cruise traffic in a port.

Cruise itinerary schedule design

ABSTRACTThe Cruise Itinerary Schedule Design (CISD) problem determines the optimal sequence of a given set of ports of call (a port of call is an intermediate stop in a cruise itinerary) and the arrival and departure times at each port of call in order to maximize the monetary value of the utility at ports of call minus the fuel cost. To solve this problem, in view of the practical observations that most cruise itineraries do not have many ports of call, we first enumerate all sequences of ports of call and then optimize the arrival and departure times at each port of call by developing a dynamic programming approach. To improve the computational efficiency, we propose effective bounds on the monetary value of each sequence of ports of call, eliminating non-optimal sequences without invoking the dynamic programming algorithm. Extensive computational experiments are conducted and the results show that, first, using the bounds on the profit of each sequence of ports of call considerably improves the computational efficiency; second, the total profit of the cruise itinerary is sensitive to the fuel price and hence an accurate estimation of the fuel price is highly desirable; third, the optimal sequence of ports of call is not necessarily the sequence with the shortest voyage distance, especially when the ports do not have a natural geographic sequence.

Characteristics and consequences of the cruise traffic seasonality on ports: the Spanish Mediterranean case

ABSTRACTCruise traffic is a maritime business and tourist typology that has expanded significantly in the past two decades. The seasonality of the industry affects maritime traffic, generating negative effects for the primary stakeholders involved in the configuration of a cruise itinerary. This article focuses on cruise traffic seasonality from the perspective of cruise ports by analysing a sample of 13 ports on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The variable used was cruise passenger movements during the period 2000–2015. The main objective of this article is to analyse cruise traffic seasonality in order to identify a pattern, classify through a cluster analysis, and identify the changes in seasonality during the period. Specifically, a threefold analysis has been performed, with the additional goal of providing a series of counter-seasonal suggestions and strategies to apply in the management of cruise ports. First, the seasonality pattern of each port was determined. Second, a cluster analysis was conducted to classify ports into clusters with homogeneous seasonality patterns. Third, an analysis was conducted to identify the changes in seasonality during the period of analysis using the coefficient of variation and the Gini coefficient. This article concludes the existence of two port clusters with different seasonal patterns.

Destination satisfaction and cruiser behaviour: The moderating effect of excursion package

Cruise passengers provide a destination with both monetary and non-monetary benefits. Along with monetary value released by cruisers, port destinations inserted in a cruise itinerary showcase their highlights to tourists, who can decide to return or recommend the destination to others.The paper investigates how destination satisfaction contributes to create value in port destinations, by influencing passengers' behaviour. In particular, expenditures, intention to return and Word-of-Mouth (WoM) attitude are considered in the analysis. Besides, for the first time, the purchase of an excursion package is tested as a moderator of the interaction between destination satisfaction and cruiser's behaviour. The study is conducted by administering and processing structured questionnaires to passengers of Costa Crociere (Carnival Group) experiencing a West Med service. Research hypotheses are tested on 748 destination opinions by performing regression analysis.Empirical outcomes contribute to the academic debate on the impact of cruise tourism on the local community, by introducing and assessing an all-embracing conceptual model. Moreover, the manuscript brings a number of practical implications as it provides to policy makers and destination managers information to develop marketing strategies for keeping loyal tourists and capturing additional potential visitors.

크루즈 선대의 운항일정계획을 위한 네트워크 최적화 모형

크루즈 관광 산업은 모든 관광 산업 중 세계적으로 가장 빠르게 성장하고 있는 관광산업임에도 불구하고, 지금까지 합리적 크루즈 경영의사결정에 관한 학술적 연구가 매우 미진한 상황이다. 이 논문은 크루즈 경영에 관한 기초적인 전략적 의사결정이라고 할 수 있는 크루즈 운항일정계획을 다루고 있다. 이전에 개발된 한척의 크루즈선박에 관한 모형의 제한점을 극복하여, 여러 척의 크루즈선박으로 구성된 크루즈 선대를 일반적으로 다룰 수 있는 최적화 의사결정계획 모형을 개발하였다. 후보운항일정계획들 간의 복잡성을 체계화하기 위해 선박별 후보운항일정계획 네트워크를 제안하였으며, 후보운항일정계획 네트워크 전체를 통합하는 정수계획모형을 개발하였다. 공개된 크루즈 운항일정 자료들에 바탕을 둔 가상 사례를 활용하여 개발된 모형을 실험하였다. In spite of today's rapid growth of world cruise industry, little academic attention has yet been given to the decision making problems for cruise operations. This research deals with strategic cruise itinerary planning that any cruise company should face. Increasing demands for international itineraries and redeployments of cruise ships are adding complexity to the itinerary planning. A slight modification of the conventional PERT/CPM network is adopted. to cope with this complexity systematically. By this, the concept of candidate itinerary network is suggested for each cruise ship. To integrate these candidate itinerary networks for each ship in a single framework, an integer programming model has been developed to find the optimal itinerary planning for any fleet of cruise ships. A numerical example, based on real cruise itinerary practices, is tested to validate and interpret the model.

Motivations to Cruise: An Itinerary and Cruise Experience Study

As worldwide cruise passenger numbers demonstrated a trend towards a maturing industry in recent years (passenger numbers still increasing but at a declining rate), this study was undertaken to investigate the motivations influencing cruise tourists' decision to cruise. Motivation data are vital for cruise companies to plan for the future. The study provides a valuable and timely insight into the motivations of 306 North American cruise tourists. A structured questionnaire was conducted on board a cruise ship operated by a major cruise company serving ports-of-call along the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard and the Caribbean. Data were collected on 6 cruise itineraries for a 6-week period from May 31 to July 6, 2008. Three aspects of potential tourist motivation were explored using 7-point Likert scales, including, information sources, vacation attributes, and motives derived from the Leisure Motivation Scale. The analysis is structured in relation to the respondents' cruise itinerary and cruise experience. The influence of tested motivations varied with cruise experience but not cruise itinerary. For cruise tourists, personal- and Internet-based information sources are deemed most influential, and their desire to cruise is primarily driven by the need for stimulus-avoidance. Some significant implications for cruise companies have emerged.