According to research by the Passenger Shipping Authority, one in nine package holidays taken by Brits last year was a cruising break with at least 4.5% of 36.1m foreign holidays taken. There was a 10% rise in UK departures during 2010 with Southampton being the busiest port in Northern Europe. The report has shown that UK passengers travelling from a British port now account for at least 40% of all cruises with more than 1.62 million Brits opting for ocean cruise holidays in 2010 (more than double compared to at least 10 years ago).

At least 66% of UK passengers said that the main reason for choosing cruise holidays is because it allowed them to stretch their money out and the fact that the majority offer all-inclusive is a bonus. The Passenger Shipping Authority believes that at least 1.7m cruise holidays will be booked in 2011 with shorter cruise breaks proving to be a big hit with holidaymakers. This in turn has seen prices fall with the average cruise holiday costing under £1000 last year.

Has this persuaded you to consider cruise holidays this year? If so, check out the range of river cruises and mini cruises available on Door2Tour.com.