Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

A view of the cruise ship, 'Freedom of the Seas', which docked in Montego Bay recently. - File

Although the region remains the most heavily travelled cruise destination, accounting for about 47 per cent of all itineraries, cruise officials have characterised this year's Caribbean bookings as 'soft'.

Addressing delegates at the recently-concluded Florida Carib-bean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference in Grand Cayman, Andy Stuart, vice-president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) in his 'State of the Cruise Industry' speech, said that 7.7 million passengers had visited the region in the past nine months, an increase of half million tourists over 2005.

CLIA represents the US$19 billion cruise lines that operate in the region.

The increase is mild in comparison to the 2005 landmark year, a situation the cruise executive asserts ranges from the impact of high fuel costs and interest rates and concern about property values for middle-class North Americans, all the way to hurricane season wariness on the part of vacationers.

"Nevertheless, the Caribbean remains the most profitable and most popular destination worldwide, representing the cruise industry's primary base of operations, as evidenced by the continuing deployment of the largest and newest vessels," argued Mr. Stuart.

By the end of this year, the cruise lines will have launched seven new ships, namely Noordam, Pride of Hawaii, Crown Princess, Freedom of the Seas, Costa Concordia, MSC Musica and Norwegian Pearl.

"Over half of these new ships will spend some or all of the year in the region," he added.

Mr. Stuart, who is also executive vice-president of Norwegian Cruise Line, said CLIA forecast that the introduction of these vessels into the marketplace, coupled with ever-increasing cruise demand among customers, will generate 11.7 million cruise passengers this year.