In the face of the current economic stress, it is good news to hear that there is one industry reporting positive numbers. The cruise industry is showing a strong presence in today’s economy with an estimated 350,000 jobs added to the employment rolls in 2007, according to a recent CLIA (Cruise Line International Association) report.

Cruise trips ranges from $100 per day up to the thousands depending on the type of ship. These prices are based on double occupancy meaning the price quoted is per person, but they base them on two persons occupying the room. How much money and time you have will pretty much dictate the type of trip you will have. If money is not a problem, you can take a trip that will cater to your every need and you can go anywhere you like in the world.

Ships uses bunker fuel to operate because it is the cheapest fuel and the dirtiest. Environmentalist are pressing for ships to change the type of fuel being used as it damages our environment and our health.

 If cruise ships are to change the type of fuel they are using, are you willing to pay the increased cost? How much are your willing to spend to save our environment?

In the dollar’s hey-day, only 20% of Americans traveled outside their homeland. The once-coveted greenback is losing face to the colorful-coated Euro (now worth 1.5 times the dollar) and otherworldly banknotes. Due to such increases, more and more Americans may turn their heads inward, away from international locations and cruise travel packages going to places afar.

Leading cruise company executives say that Americans go on cruise travel vacations even when there is a slump in the US economy. Americans just want to cruise, if statistics and trends released by the cruise industry are anything to go by.