Crunch, what crunch? That seems to be the message emerging from the UK’s leading cruise companies as they open bookings for next year and even the year after.

For it seems that the lure of faraway places by sea has no sign of diminishing with people prepared to splash out thousands of pounds on cruises they may not actually take until 2011.

Cunard Line and P&O Cruises both reported record booking levels for 2011 round the world cruises on July 1, the day they went on sale.

Given that the highest price can work out at more than £40,000, this seems nothing short of remarkable in the current economic climate.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines also described advance bookings for 2010 as being well ahead of those a year ago.

So what is stimulating this interest? Getting away from the foul British winter appears to be incentive enough for many as world voyages tend to set off in January and return in early spring – a perfect time for escaping to warmer regions of the world.

Then there’s the cost. While the headline prices may appear high, the lowest price is less than £7,000 per person when early booking discounts and other incentives are included – and that’s for 95 nights away. By my calculations, that works out at around £90 a day with all meals and entertainment included.

So if you’ve got time on your hands, a world cruise – often considered the preserve of the mega rich – suddenly looks to be a pretty good alternative to steep heating bills and grotty weather at home.

The opportunity to visit exotic destinations are, of course, a major draw for those opting to embark on a circumnavigation of the globe by ship.

It would actually be easier to list the places ships don’t cruise to as ever-more adventurous itineraries stretch from Africa and the Indian Ocean to Asia, Australasia and the South Pacific and from North to Central and South America.

But not all world voyages are strictly that – some actually only sail half way around the world and back again but on different routes. So a trip to Hong Kong and Japan may go via the Middle East and then return to the UK via Cape Town and West Africa.

If all those continents on one seem a little too much to take in on one trip, then cruise lines offer the option of breaking up world cruises into more manageable chunks.

These in cruise industry parlance are called ‘line voyages’. Effectively what this means is that you cruise one-way and fly back or vice-versa.

Travelling between the UK and Australia, UK and New Zealand or UK and Hong Kong are among the most popular of these options, cutting the world cruise journey duration in half while making the experience more affordable.

I’ve already mentioned the all important cost. Well, cruise companies and agents such as Virgin Holidays Cruises have put together numerous offers which can range from price cuts, on board spending money through to not having to pay gratuities on board to tempt those able to plan their holidays up to 18 months in advance.

My contacts in the cruise business tell me such tactics are bearing fruit.

P&O Cruises and Cunard Line said reservations on the day the brochure went on sale for 2011 round the world cruises were 47% ahead of last year with 2,044 people booking.

Fred Olsen bookings for the week to June 29 were at the second highest level in the company’s history. The previous week was the third highest.

P&O Cruises’ managing director Nigel Esdale is hopeful that the figures are indicative of “shoots of growth” for the travel industry as a whole, while showing the resilience of the cruise sector.

“The appetite to take that ‘once in a lifetime’ voyage is far from in decline, and for many experienced cruisers a world voyage is becoming a regular winter holiday experience,” he says.

“The success of this launch day suggests that cruising is more immune to the current economic climate and that holidays are still a priority.”

Phil Davies

While a large proportion of these early sales can be attributed to the various tempting advance booking incentives, it does appear that taking a slow boat to China, Australia, Hawaii etc is capturing the imagination like never before.

Can the last person leaving the country, please switch off the lights?

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