Alaska cruises rank first among domestic traveler this year for the first time ever, according to the latest annual survey of Travel Leaders Group, one of North America’s largest travel agency firms.
Travel Leaders Group said the survey results were reached with information provided by more than 1,300 participating travel agents.
The results of the annual tends survey come from booking data provided by travel agent professionals who are actively booking vacations on a daily basis and are at the forefront of where consumers are currently vacationing, according to a statement released by Ninan Chacko, chief executive officer of Travel Leaders Group.
Cruise related results of the survey noted that when asked to rank which one cruising region is being booked more, Alaska cruises came out on top, followed by the western Caribbean, European river cruises, eastern Caribbean, Mediterranean and southern Caribbean, in that order.
Among the most common questions asked by those looking to book tours was the availability of shore excursions and what to do in port.
According to Lalanya Downs, public affairs and administration director for Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, none of their member lines will be calling on Cordova or Valdez this year, but the luxury cruise line Ponant’s cultural cruise ship Le Soleal will call on Cordova in 2019. The luxury yacht, with an all French crew, has 132 cabins.
Ponant has one 22-day cruise scheduled to leave Greenland via Paris for Nome via the Northwest Passage on Aug. 27. The fare for the fully booked cruise is $21,510. Other Ponant cruises to Alaska this year include shorter trips to Nome and along the Pacific Ring of Fire in the Aleutians
The company also currently provides cruises of the Canadian Arctic Iceland and Greenland.
