Cruise lines luring travelers with niche marketing

• More people are taking cruises than ever before.
• And more options are available to cruisers than ever before - more destinations, a bigger variety of activities on and off the ship, even more choices for dinner.
• Niche cruises abound, from sailings for wine aficionados to trips that teach photography.
• And even though most cruisers use travel agents to book their trips, the Internet is playing an increasingly important role as a research tool.
• Nearly 8 million people took cruises in 2003; about 10.5 million took cruises in 2004, according to the Cruise Line Industry Association, which represents 19 cruise lines serving 95 percent of the North American market.
• Noncruisers may understandably think of cruises as a refuge for sedentary passengers who spend their days filling up at free buffets.
• Depending on the destination, Royal Caribbean cruises offer everything from glacier-climbing to cliff-rappelling to biking adventures, and its ships are known for amenities such as rock-climbing walls and ice rinks.
• To entice repeat customers to come back, cruise lines are also adding new ports of call.
• Holland America Lines even has a name for repeat cruisers for whom Mexico and the Caribbean are old news.
• Crystal Cruises offers signature dishes from Wolfgang Puck; the Queen Mary 2 has a Todd English restaurant, and Silversea offers a wine series with tastings and guided excursions to vineyards.
• Also on the rise is the increased importance of the Internet.
• Although CLIA's market research finds that 80 percent of cruisers still use travel agents to book their trips, cruise Web sites are proliferating.
• Dale, the CLIA president, says the array of choices available to cruisers is part of what keeps them coming back in such high numbers.