What the Future of Cruise Vacations Will Look Like, According to the Experts

The coming year is prime time for a cruise vacation, and there have never been more options for travelers looking to spend time at sea.

That was the key takeaway from nearly 100 experts who convened in late October for the Travel + Leisure Cruise Summit 2024, which was hosted at the Waldorf Astoria Cancun, in Mexico.

Among the attendees at the forefront of the cruise industry were more than 60 travel advisors, including several members of the T+L Travel Advisory Board. “You really are hearing from the best in the business,” said Katy Bano, the vice president and publisher of T+L, in her opening remarks.

Over the course of the two-day conference, attendees heard from some of the world’s foremost industry experts, including Kelly Craighead, CEO of the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA).

“Luxury cruise is such a phenomenon,” Craighead said, noting that 2025 is forecast to be a record-setting year for cruise travel globally. “There isn’t just one thing about ‘cruise,’ there are so many, many, many different types of experiences that are resonating.”

Among the above-and-beyond trips discussed during the summit were things like a voyage through the fjords of Norway, an expedition to the North Pole, a trip to see penguins in the Southern Ocean, and relaxing wellness escapes on sailings in the Caribbean or Mediterranean. Also discussed were the top-flight culinary offerings on luxury ships of all kinds, and the unique benefits of river cruises.

Guests of the event came away with fresh ideas on how to best market these trips — and an appreciation for the unique advantages of traveling by ship, including the ability to unpack once while seeing multiple ports and the turn-key simplicity of booking one vacation that includes several countries.

“Cruising is easy,” said Carmen Teresa Targa, a Travel Advisory Board member who spoke on a panel about the benefits of cruising with multiple generations. “Everything is done for me and I don’t have to think,” she said with a laugh.

“If you can get the luxury traveler onto a ship, they will never look back,” agreed Bano.

In addition to several panel discussions summarizing trends in the industry, summit attendees also participated in a series of workshops, which were lead by Crystal, Oceania Cruises, Ponant, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Viking.

Attendees also had plenty of opportunities to enjoy the hospitality at the Waldorf Astoria Cancun, a fabulous resort located less than 20 minutes from Cancun International on Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The beachfront property is the first purpose-built luxury hotel in Hilton’s Latin America portfolio, with two pools, fantastic Mexican cuisine, and a destination spa, as detailed recently by T+L contributor Dobrina Zhekova.

For its part, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has several other notable luxury developments in the pipeline, according to Phillip Peña and Feisal Jaffer, two executives who detailed the growing global footprint of LXR Hotels and Resorts during the Cruise Summit.

In addition to seminars and panel discussions, attendees had plenty of time for networking and collaboration over a pair of working lunches: One was sponsored by Explora Journeys, the high-end line with high marks in the World’s Best Awards, while the other was sponsored by AmaWaterways, a favorite of World’s Best Awards voters in the river cruise category.

Many of those at the summit came away with new ideas, as well as bullish predictions about the future of the industry. Among the noteworthy sound bites heard around the summit:

• “Customers who are ‘new to cruise’ need to know that these luxury options exist,” said Sandy Schadler, a member of the Travel Advisory Board who spoke on a panel moderated by T+L senior editor Elizabeth Rhodes.
• “Cooler destinations have been a big twist — they’re huge now, particularly the fjords of Norway, Greenland, Iceland,” said Brenna Abels, of Regent.
• “It’s never been safer or more comfortable to go on an expedition,” said Ellen McIlvaine, of Ponant.
• “Our lawyer said I could say this: Cruise is the safest way to travel,” agreed Craighead, the CLIA CEO.
• “Gen Z are the most enthusiastic about cruising,” said Anne Madison, another CLIA representative in attendance.
• “There’s such variety on board, we can cater to everyone’s taste,” said Nathan Hickman, of Oceania Cruises.
• “Crystal is building two expedition ships,” said Glen Rothe, of Crystal, the line that’s also now integrating Abercrombie & Kent expertise into its shore excursions.

If anything, the theme of possibility seemed to run through the proceedings, with advisors, sponsors, and T+L staff all in agreement that the future of cruising, particularly at the high end, is brighter than ever.

“We’ve had parents pull their kids out of school to take them on a Cape Town to Singapore cruise for 30 days,” said Hickman, during a panel discussion moderated by Andy Harmer of CLIA. “They said, ‘This is more important than school.’”