Cruise craze for holidaymakers

HOLIDAYMAKERS in Bahrain have been splashing the cash as they ditch city breaks for cruises.
Some travel agents have recorded an 80 per cent increase in bookings compared to the first six months of last year.
The figures come as Bahrain aims to become a hub for cruise tourism following the opening of the Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Hidd.
It welcomed its first luxury passenger liner world cruise ship MV Costa Luminosa in December, which introduced tours of the Gulf.
Travel agents said the US-Norwegian company Royal Caribbean International was leading the sales with Princess Cruises and the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) not far behind.
An average seven-day cruise package costs around BD900 per person, not including flights, but can reach as much as BD8,000.
World Travel Service tours and consultant manager Anitha Ajay Rao believes this is the year for the region's cruise industry to really take off.
"The cruise industry is becoming extremely popular with residents," she said.
"Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruise and NCL are all in the market selling like hot cakes.
"Compared to last year, we've had almost an 80pc increase in sales."
Kanoo International travel holiday manager Zall Koohpaima said the most popular package it had sold was Royal Caribbean International's MS Oasis of the Seas, which starts from the port of Miami, primarily sailing in the waters of the Caribbean.
"I would say that we've sold approximately 3,000 packages and this is about a 20pc increase from last year," he said.
"We've also had a large number of enquiries.
"Royal Caribbean International has cruises all over the world. There are ships that start from Barcelona, Rome, Venice, Amsterdam and more."
Bahrain International Travel leisure manager Samira Hassan reported a 70pc increase in cruise package sales from last summer.
"Our most popular package is the Royal Caribbean Star Cruise," she said.
"It sets sail from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand and Penang, Malaysia and then back to Singapore over a period of two nights."
Ms Hassan said the outbreak of swine flu had affected many cruise package bookings last summer, but that was no longer the case.
"Last July there was a problem with one of the Royal Caribbean ships where over 60 crew members were infected by the H1N1 virus in France," she said.
"But these fears have now been dispelled completely and we find ourselves in the summer of cruising."
Meanwhile, Kanoo International travel has already taken almost 12,000 flight bookings, up 35pc from last year.
Orlando, Florida in the US and Sentosa Island in Singapore are leading the demand because of their family-oriented nature and abundance of children's activities, said officials.
Favourite cities this summer include Kuala Lumpur, London and Istanbul.
The Maldives is also proving popular.
However, bookings to the usually popular destinations of Greece and Thailand have dropped considerably due to political violence and unrest in both countries.
"I think people are trying to stay away from Greece. The country is in financial turmoil and the riots are leading people to book elsewhere," said Ms Hassan.
Instead, she said people were travelling to Ayia Napa in Cyprus to get a taste of similar culture and tradition.
Manama Travel Centre tours manager Pamel Murdoch said Madrid, Spain, was the surprise choice for holiday-goers this year, while Barcelona was also proving popular.