Cruises are still having a moment, despite recent headlines, mostly because travelers choose based on cost, convenience and the ‘hassle factor’.
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Despite recent negative headlines, the cruise industry appears buoyant. Cruises are undergoing continual reinvention, but the latest trends are for more time in port, more overnight stays at destinations, better food, less well-known places, and wind power. Crucially, they’re as appealing to retirees as to Gen Z.
As Bloomberg reports, the cruise industry seems pretty solid, even in the face of recent negative headlines when passengers were forced to remain onboard the Hondius cruise with the hantavirus—cruises, it says, seem to be immune to bad headlines.
Indeed, Viking holdings shows just how resilient the industry is right now, with the company reporting that it is currently making more money from each passenger per day at sea than ever before and its finance chief told Bloomberg that Viking had not seen a “meaningful increase in cancellations, global geopolitical upheaval notwithstanding.”
Viking may be a luxury cruise company but everyone is climbing aboard. According to The New York Times, 35 million people went on a cruise in 2024. That’s up 5 million from pre-pandemic figures in 2019.
Incidentally, the kind of exploration cruises the Hondius ship offers accounts for only about 1% of global cruise passengers, but increasingly, there is a cruise for everyone; it’s less about whether you take a cruise and more about which cruise you take.
Cruises Appeal On Cost And Convenience
One reason that cruises are so popular is that people are seeking cheaper vacations. Many have been lured onto cruises over the past few years by discounts, priced out of the rising airfares and hotel costs.
It’s also about convenience. Cruises do everything for you, so all you need to figure out is how to get to the port. Plus, it helps address fears of overcrowding in small, medieval European towns, if you’re heading out on the open seas—many cruise companies are increasingly heading to their own Caribbean islands rather than dealing with small ports and unhappy locals campaigning against overtourism.
A recent survey by Afar of its readers on what it would take to get them to take their first cruise leaned heavily towards the need to feel crowd-free and more time moored in a dock rather than hopping from port to port. That can be complicated, as staying moored for longer requires securing popular berths that often book up years in advance, but Afar suggests that cruises are indeed spending more time in ports to accommodate this demand—Virgin Voyages lets passengers enjoy the nightlife of Ibiza and Mykonos before setting sail. Others are letting passengers see the sunset across the cobbled streets of European towns and beaches, before heading out much later onto the open seas, when passengers have eaten in portside restaurants.
The Afar survey found that more people would go if cruises set sail to more unique destinations and a smaller number are looking for better food options. The Four Seasons and Orient Express are both launching new cruise ships in 2026 that aim to target these whims, albeit at the luxury level. The former, Four Seasons 1, is non-inclusive, with drinks and dining priced à la carte. The Orient Express Corinthian launches in June, with 54 suites and a Michelin-starred chef, and is reputedly the first sailing yacht to use a wind-powered system paired with LNG propulsion, resulting in near-zero emissions.
With more people considering their environmental footprint, the adoption of sail power by many major cruise lines is a game-changer. Captain Artic is a prime example—the world’s first solar-sailing polar vessel in Svalbard in Norway, with an all-female crew and onboard scientists who will teach you about polar bears, the Arctic and whale feeding, powered by both the wind and the sun.
Retirees On Residential Cruises, Forever
The Villa Vie Odyssey is an endless cruise, taking in 425 destinations over 1301 days—that’s over three and a half years, and all in a warm climate. It has 485 cabins to house 800 passengers that divide their time between three restaurants, five bars, a library, a pool and a gym. And it is just one of its kind, as more and more retirees are heading to the high seas, for good.
Villa Vie founder Mike Petterson told Bloomberg that the average age is 59, that two-thirds are retired or semi-retired, and that he expects the ship to reach full occupancy with rented or bought condos by the end of summer 2026.
Bloomberg reports that, while it is impossible to quantify the numbers, the allure for retirees is easy to understand. Independent living facilities can cost $3,145 per month, but an interior cabin on a ship can cost $130,000, with everything onboard, costing $2,000 per person per month. That’s low enough for some retirees to sell their homes and pay cash to travel forever. However, people own their cabins only for the lifespan of the ship, but to many, it is worth not having to do the shopping or travel to the doctor’s.
Villa Vie now plans to launch new luxury ships, on a par with The World, a ship that has been sailing the oceans for the past 24 years.
Gen Z On The Caribbean Cruises
Data in 2025 by CivicScience showed that Gen Z are at least ‘somewhat interested’ in going on a cruise at 69%—the highest of any age group. Plus, it makes sense for this cohort to head for an all-inclusive vacation environment when inflation and job security are issues, and they are likely to be less bothered by paying for alcohol when they drink much less than other age groups.
Indeed, such is the attraction that Cruise Influencers can now earn up to $350,000 a year, encouraging this Gen Z cohort to get on board, according to Bloomberg. Posting on the worst ports or overpacking, affiliate links and advertising across videos, vlogs and podcasts can add up. Content creators can sell cruises to their audiences authentically, which tends to lead to behavioral change. Companies like Royal Caribbean tend to see Caribbean trips as an entry point for new-to-cruise travelers, and about half of its customers are millennials or younger.
Cruises today are clearly more personalized and varied than ever, as show by the fact that travelers, from Gen Z to retirees, are embracing life at sea for its value, and comfort. Far from deterring travelers, the recent crises highlight how far the industry has come—and why more people continue to climb aboard.
