Travel: Against the Tide

By CATHY BOOTH LITTLE STIRRUP CAY

The Bahamian sun slides into the aquamarine sea as the last passengers of the cruise ship Nordic Empress return from a hard day of sunbathing, shell hunting and rum drinking on Coco Cay's white sand beach. "Bring me another Bahama Mama," yells Danny Rivero, 23, from amid 102 degrees hot-tub bubbles high up on the ship's sun deck. Fellow passenger Renato Deoliveira, 19, obediently passes along a lethal concoction of 151-proof Myers's rum, apricot brandy, coconut rum and fruit punch, while Ted and Kay LaTour, a Milwaukee couple in their 60s, laugh indulgently and sink lower in the froth. "Supposedly we're in a recession," says Ted. "But you look around this cruise and wonder."

Everywhere you look around the Nordic Empress, people like Ted LaTour are defying the dismal economic news back home. Across the teak sun deck, Nancy and Bruce Brentlinger of Terre Haute, Ind., are sipping their own Bahama Mamas and playing cards. Down on Deck 4, Tim and Ann Swan of San Antonio are dressing for the '50s rock-'n'-roll night. On Deck 5, Liz Scheetz from Chapel Hill, N.C., is slamming quarters into a Dynamite Jackpot slot machine, while around the corner in the Carousel Pub Mary Ann Brower of Pleasantville, N.J., is celebrating with a bottle of Freixenet champagne. In the dining room, with its two-deck-high wall of windows, the crew is getting ready to serve a dinner of lobster tail and prime sirloin to a sequined and tuxedoed crowd of 1,323.

Whoa, what's going on here? Consumer confidence sank to a 12-year low in January. Airlines are estimating a $2 billion loss for 1991. Hotels are struggling along with occupancy rates barely above 60%. Yet cruise ships are leaving ports from Miami to Los Angeles, New York City to Seattle, with their cabins more than 90% full. Despite the Persian Gulf war and the recession, the cruise industry posted a 10% gain in 1991. A record 4 million Americans took cruises last year, up from a mere half a million in 1970. Carnival Cruise Lines, the world's largest, and No. 2 Royal Caribbean Cruises report record- setting sales this year. In January alone, the two Miami-based companies took bookings from more than 615,000 passengers. "The tide is rising for the cruise industry," exults Carnival's senior vice president of sales and marketing, Bob Dickinson, chairman of the 34-member Cruise Lines International Association. "Cruising is hot."

Until the mid-1980s, the cruise-ship industry was a doddering old lady. TV's long-running Love Boat went a long way toward changing perceptions, as did heavy network advertising. Flashy new ships like Carnival's Fantasy and Royal Caribbean's Nordic Empress now lure passengers with soaring Hyatt-style atriums, neon-lit discos and casinos with low table limits. The elderly can still take a constitutional around the deck, of course, but the trend is toward state-of-the-art fitness spas and sports platforms for water skiers. Princess and Royal Caribbean lines have even bought islands for private beaches.

"In the past 20 years we've created a more mass-market, Las Vegas-style appeal, where you get all the amenities of a resort at a reasonable price," says Carnival president Micky Arison. Boring these ships aren't. At Carnival, waiters will twirl trays on their heads to entertain. "My husband sent me with my mom to force me to relax after two babies," laughs a flushed Liz Scheetz aboard the Nordic Empress. "Little does he know I've been going to the shows, the casino, the midnight buffets. I haven't slept at all."

There's a cruise ship for virtually every taste and pocketbook -- 122 based in North America alone -- from megaliners with more than 2,600 passengers to small exploration-type vessels for fewer than 100. The 250 passengers now taking the full round-the-world cruise on Cunard's QE2 paid as much as $126,900 for their staterooms and luxurious life-style, but the rich aren't alone on the high seas. About 40% of today's cruise passengers earn $20,000 to $39,000 a year. A three-day cruise in the Bahamas can cost as little as $500 to $800 for two, without airfare. Heavy discounting in the past year has driven prices down even further, especially in the Caribbean, where two-for- one deals were rampant in 1991 and will continue to a lesser extent this year.

What makes cruises particularly popular in these recessionary times is the all-inclusive nature of the ticket. Cruise trips booked through travel agents typically include airfare, room, entertainment and food (six times a day, if not continuously). Book a cruise, and 85% to 90% of the vacation is paid for, vs. 40% to 45% for the typical land-based trip. The only real extras are gambling, shopping and alcohol, which is often priced well below resort levels. "It's a great value. You can pay up front and not spend another nickel," says Mary Ann Brower, an operating engineer at an Atlantic City casino, who saved up all year for a three-night cruise to Nassau last week.

As the cost of cruises has dropped, so has the age of cruise travelers. "They used to say cruises were for the newlywed and nearly dead," laughs Carnival's Dickinson. Now the fastest-growing passenger segment is between the ages of 25 and 40. The median age has dropped from 58 years in 1985 to just under 43 today. Families with children book 28% of all cruise vacations, and there are lines catering to kids, with youth counselors to supervise activities ranging from treasure hunts to computer classes. Premier, the official cruise line of Walt Disney World, sails with Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters on board.

The most popular destination remains the Caribbean, with 55% of American passengers heading for the balmy isles from Florida ports. Mexico and Alaska + rank second and third. Barcelona, Spain, is a big draw this year because of the Summer Olympics. Two ships will embark on tours retracing the voyage of Christopher Columbus. For the adventurous, several previously closed ports in eastern Russia, including Vladivostok, are being added to cruise itineraries. For the active, Windjammer Barefoot Cruises sails on tall ships once owned by the likes of Aristotle Onassis and the Duke of Westminster.

Classic lines such as Cunard, now 150 years old, continue to cater to the older, more affluent customers seeking highly personalized service. Besides its regular transatlantic and international cruises, Cunard has two luxury yachts, the Sea Goddess I and II, with only 116 berths each for cruises costing $10,000 for a week's holiday for two. "On the Sea Goddess, it's like being an invited guest on a yacht," says Ronald Santangelo, senior vice president. "If you get up at 3 a.m. and wander out to the hot tub and would like to have caviar and a bottle of champagne, somebody will be there in two minutes with it. No questions asked." And no additions to the bill.

Only 11% of cruise passengers can afford trips of a week or more, however. The overall trend to shorter vacations has turned cruises of two to five days into a hot ticket. "We needed total relaxation, but we couldn't be away for long because we have three children at home," says Nancy Brentlinger, who chose a three-night Bahamas tour for a quick getaway. For those with less time, there are "cruises to nowhere" with one or two days at sea.

Taking a cruise remains the dream of 58% of all adults, according to the cruise association, yet only 5% to 6% of the U.S. population has ever cruised. By the year 2000, the association predicts, 10 million people will cruise annually. The satisfaction rating for cruises is the highest in the travel business: over 85% are "extremely" or "very satisfied." The ease and safety of cruise traveling has taken on more importance as Americans tire of frenzied, pricey European tours. "I like the days at sea best. There are so many things to do without packing and unpacking, taking taxis and getting places," says Rene Newman, a Chicago resident and veteran cruiser. Last week she sailed from Los Angeles bound for Mexico on the Princess Dawn with a new convert, her daughter Elissa.

In a feverish bid to expand, U.S. cruise lines are adding 13 new ships and more than 11,000 berths this year. James Godsman, president of the Cruise Lines International Association, predicts that by 1995 the number of berths will rise to 120,000, from the current 89,000. Companies such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean are driving the weak out of the business. Half a dozen lines sank in the past five years because of insufficient capital or poor marketing. Even successful lines had to discount heavily last year to fill ships. Lines with older ships, like Norwegian Cruise Line, are frantically updating to meet the changing demand. NCL's Norway, for instance, was renovated with a huge Roman spa and a first for cruise liners -- two hydrotherapy baths. Record revenues at Carnival are attracting the interest of hoteliers: in May, Radisson Hotels International will introduce the world's first luxury cruise ship with a dual-hull catamaran, designed with corporate groups of 354 in mind. Besides the latest in telecommunications, it has a helicopter pad up top for the late-arriving executive.

Travel agents are sold on cruises. "Last year the cruise industry was the only segment of the U.S. travel industry to show increases in both number of passengers and volume of sales," says travel agent Philip Davidoff of Bowie, Md., president of the American Society of Travel Agents. Cruise specialists like Miami's Cruise Line Inc., however, warn that discounts change daily and ships differ radically. King-size beds are not the norm, nor are tubs. Some ships have more kids than the Good Ship Lollipop, while others go for full silver service. Some have TVs and ship-to-shore phone; others consider shuffleboard a big amenity.

There is a definite economy-be-damned attitude among travelers. "People are tightening up, but they haven't stopped taking vacations. Cruises give them value," says Rod McLeod, Royal Caribbean's executive vice president. Travelers like San Antonio real estate man Tim Swan, who paid $1,940 for a three-night Bahamas cruise, including airfare, with his wife, agree that the economy is giving them serious second thoughts. "So what do you do?" he asks, grinning as the sun sets over the Nordic Empress. "You go on a cruise!" Lately, anyhow, Swan's got plenty of company.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE

CREDIT: TIME Graphic by Steve Hart

CAPTION: MANY CHOOSE TO CRUISE DURING . . . A DOWNCAST ECONOMY

With reporting by Jane Van Tassel/New York