Cruises Are Afloat Despite Caribbean Fatigue

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Cruise vacations are riding a high tide of socks-and-sandals wearers who've weathered rough economic seas and are looking for a calm port in the storm, but that swell of business isn't lifting all ships.

Detroit-based cruise price comparison site CruiseCompete and cruise pricing partner Cayole.com compiled a cruise price index based on the price of an outside cabin on a seven-night cruise shipping out within the next six months. Using data from the top six North American cruise lines that make up 90% of the North American cruise market -- Carnival Cruises(CCL), Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises(RCL) -- CruiseCompete found that the index was down less than a percentage point from October, but up 10% from last November.

Cruise vacation bookings are up as passengers seek luxury and new ports.

Prices overall are up steeply from a year ago as Alaska, Mexico and the Caribbean continue to bring in boatloads of business. There's even a 20-point uptick in demand since last year for European cruises, which have seen a 2.8% price drop since last month as popular destinations in Greece, Spain and Italy grapple with sovereign debt issues.

CruiseCompete Chief Executive Bob Levinstein says relaxed consumers are contributing to the larger crowds on the lido deck, but their seafaring ways and ports of call are changing. While North American departure points in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., New York and Disney(DIS) Cruise Lines' hub in Port Canaveral, Fla., are still hopping, discontent with mega cruise ships and popular but crowded and repetitive deep-water ports in the Caribbean are fueling interest in smaller luxury cruise lines that can access shallower ports in St. Bart's, Turkey, Croatia and the Greek Islands. Even small river cruises through Austria, Germany and Slovakia are taking some of the spillover of travelers tired of familiar ports in Mexico, the Bahamas and Grand Cayman.

With Europe and the euro in flux, however, Levinstein says the cost of European cruises have dropped as luxury lines look to fill ships ahead of any potential collapses. Meanwhile, North American cruise lines continue to counter with new ship designs that offer more balconies and amenities with their all-inclusive prices.

We spoke with Levinstein about the state of the cruise industry and discovered that while its health is improving, passenger demands are changing course a bit: