Tampa, Florida, has been rated the No. 1 cruise vacation spot on the earth for 2024, based on a brand new survey. The town is situated on Tampa Bay, in West Central Florida, and is among the many state’s smaller ports. The examine additionally checked out search information for “cruises” usually and located strong progress within the recognition of the holiday possibility.
New Survey Information Reveals Greatest Cruise Locations
Avanti Journey Insurance coverage, a UK agency, launched a report that exhibits Tampa is the perfect cruise vacation spot in 2024. Tampa had the best cruise index rating, 74, with the highest rating being 100. The vacation spot additionally was ranked highest as being the “most household pleasant,” and got here in second within the class “suitability for seniors.”
The vacation spot sits on Tampa Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico, and is about 85 miles from Orlando, the theme-park capital of the Sunshine State. Eight ships from 5 cruise strains homeport on the Port of Tampa, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Movie star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Margaritavile at Sea.
Carnival Cruise Line has two ships crusing from Tampa, Carnival Paradise and Carnival Satisfaction, which was the road’s first ship to homeport from the vacation spot following the pandemic. Different ships based mostly in Tampa embody Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas, and Movie star Cruises’ Constellation of the Seas.
Tampa is heading in the right direction to welcome 1.1 million-plus cruise arrivals in 2024, based on Florida’s Seaport Mission Plan, and whereas the quantity is powerful, it’s far decrease than competitor ports in Florida, comparable to PortMiami, with 7.3 million, and Port Canaveral, with 6.8 million recorded in 2023.
Cozumel, Mexico, got here in second place within the general rankings, adopted by Barcelona, in third place. Their index scores have been 71.9 and 71.8, respectively. Each Cozumel and Barcelona scored excessive within the “most romantic locations for {couples}” rating, with scores of 17.2 and 20, respectively, out of a complete of 20.
“Barcelona continues to be probably the most common cruise locations as they’ve the most important cruise port in Europe and fourth on the earth. Barcelona is stuffed with points of interest appropriate for everybody together with sightseeing, unimaginable eating places and nightlife,” mentioned Sara Younger, income supervisor for Carnival Cruises UK.
The examine additionally ranked the perfect river cruise locations in Europe. Barcelona took the lead as the highest river cruise vacation spot, with a rating of 14.4 (out of a complete of 20), probably from a lot smaller native tour sailings. Lisbon, Portugal, got here in second place, adopted by Vancouver, British Columbia.
Cruises Set To Be ‘All of the Rage’ in 2024
An enormous upswing in on-line searches for “cruise locations” within the UK was recognized, with a spike of a whopping 105% from January 24, 2024 to February 24, 2024.
“Cruises are set to be all the trend this yr and there’s a purpose why they’ve grown in recognition. There’s nothing fairly like a cruise. That’s a part of what makes them particular, however for the uninitiated, it may be fairly overwhelming when it’s time to ebook,” mentioned Kelly Johnstone, of Avanti Journey Insurance coverage.
She advises future cruisers to take a look at numerous locations and contemplate a ship’s character earlier than choosing a shortlist of cruise ships and cruise strains. And as extra cruise strains have entered the market in recent times, comparable to Virgin Voyages and Ritz Carlton, the alternatives for vacationers proceed to widen.
Learn Additionally: Florida Cruise Ports – Your Full Overview and Information
“The demographic for cruises is certainly altering as we’re seeing extra disrupters coming into the market such because the Ritz Carlton, who’ve launched their first cruise ships, with extra coming in 2024,” famous Younger, the Carnival Cruises UK income supervisor.
The methodology included accumulating cruise port information and assessing Journey Advisor critiques for every cruise ship. The critiques and information have been used to create “cruise hotspot indexes” that ranked greatest cruise vacation locations for {couples}, households, seniors, meals and wine fanatics, and funds vacationers. In addition they ranked the perfect river cruise locations.
