What do Strictly Come Dancing, heavy metal, The Walking Dead and cats all have in common? They are all themes for forthcoming luxury cruises.
In an effort to throw off its image as the holiday choice for pensioners, the cruise industry of 2016 has gone all-out for themed trips aimed at younger people – and is reaping the rewards in a rejuvenated industry.
This month, stars of Strictly will be spinning on the floor on P&O’s cruise ship Ventura, as it sails from Southampton to Lisbon via Morocco. The show’s “nasty” judge, Craig Revel Horwood, will be scoring the professional dancers from the series and the passengers who want to compete.
At the other end of TV culture, last January 2,000 horror fans crowded on to the Walker Stalker Walking Dead-themed cruise around the Bahamas. They mixed with stars of their favourite show and danced at an undead-themed ball dressed like extras from the Thriller video. Make-up and prosthetics artists were available to help with costumes.
The seeds of the expansion were sown a few years ago when cruise firms began experimenting with music-themed trips. But the market has exploded recently with the companies mining every hobby or avenue of pop culture to bring in new customers who would never have thought of taking a holiday on a boat.
Amy Nixon was one of the passengers tempted on to the Walker Stalker. “My husband and I are both big fans of The Walking Dead and thought the cruise would be a great opportunity to meet some of the stars, as well as hang out with fellow fans,” she said.
“The excitement was contagious – and a bit surreal. We would find ourselves dining in a nice restaurant next to a zombie bride with part of her face chewed off with special effects makeup.”
Like most cruise liners these days, the boat featured amenities such as a bowling alley, climbing wall and hot tubs. But it was the show’s stars who made the trip, said Nixon. “First, they spoke with the fans during panel interviews, and that was a great way to find out what they were like in person. And after that you would always hear stories about them pranking passengers.”
Those passengers were a surprising mix: “Families with small children, old ladies, college students, hippies in their 50s, housewives – even a couple taking their honeymoon. “There was zombie trivia and bingo games, a haunted house, a zombie movie marathon, and a zombie costume contest. That was a hilariously creepy night.” Another trip is going ahead next year.
Cosplay – where fans dress up as their favourite TV or film characters – will also be a big part of Disney’s seven-day Star Wars Caribbean cruises this summer. The trips feature a Jedi training academy, “where young Padawans learn lightsaber manoeuvres”, and are aimed at young families, which is a market the industry is keen to penetrate.
Film and TV tie-ins are big business for cruises. In August, Fred Olsen Cruises is cashing in with a Great British Bake-Off cruise that explores British cookery in all its glory. The programme’s 2014 winner, Nancy Birtwhistle, will demonstrate her skills and pass on tips as she joins the trip from Cardiff to Leith. “I am absolutely thrilled,” she said. “We will enjoy the best that the British Isles has to offer.” Last year Mary Berry, the programme’s queen baker, hosted the trip.
There will be a less sedate atmosphere, however, on August’s Full Metal Cruise sailing from Hamburg to Copenhagen via Oslo. British heavy metal survivors the Quireboys and American rockers Queensrÿche will be among the bands playing for fans on an open-air stage.
Adam Coulter, editor of Cruise Critic, said it was all about convincing people who would otherwise never consider a cruise, to give it a go. “The companies are looking to attract new people,” he said. “Cruising in the UK is saddled with a retro image and part of the aim is to make people realise that those days are long-gone. Whereas before in Britain we had ships catering for a certain demographic, without all the bells and whistles, now we have vast American-style ships with an enormous amount to do: they have go-kart tracks, skydiving simulators, climbing walls. So the Brits are getting into that stuff, too.” The ploy seems to be working – last year more British people took a cruise than ever before.
“If you tap into anything that involves popular culture, like The Walking Dead, people don’t care where it is – they will get on board and think, ‘Ah, this isn’t so bad. Actually I’m quite enjoying this.’”
Some cruises seem to be just for mixing with like-minded people. The Meow Meow cruise, for instance, on a Carnival boat from Florida to Mexico this month is for cat-lovers. Although passengers are not allowed to take their pets, they can take part in cat-themed karaoke and a cat-themed scavenger hunt and are encouraged to have T-shirts printed with photographs of their pets.
