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This paper aims to provide a better understanding of self-organised cruiser’s expenditures, analysing the effect of city interface satisfaction (CIS) on total monetary impact on land (TMIoL) for cruisers travelling without touristic guide and investigating the size of cruise ships, such as those labelled super-sized ships (SSSh), as a moderator variable.

The study was conducted through an interview-based semi-structured questionnaire administered to 812 self-organised cruisers visiting one of main ports of call in the Mediterranean region.

The findings highlight that CIS positively influences TMIoL; the relationship is moderated by SSSh; age, cruise experience and time on land are confirmed to be critical predictors of cruiser’s expenditures in the tourism destination.

The increase in cruiser flows and vessel sizes has a significant economic and non-economic impact on cruise destinations. More players are involved in the value creation process and its sharing, such as port destinations, local governments and cruise liners. Value measurement and knowledge of its determinants (e.g. port facilities, destination attractiveness, cruiser satisfaction and experiences) are essential, in terms of competitiveness, for practitioner’s decision-making processes and scholars interested in analysing the cruise phenomenon. This paper contributes to the existing literature as it provides results concerning value creation that is not managed by any one single player, such as cruise companies, port destination or local government. Such knowledge can be useful above all for local governments because self-organised cruisers visit the city destination not as cruise tourists but as land tourists.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the qualities of delighted cruise travelling experience and proposed cruisers’ experience, service convenience and perceived overall value as the drivers of cruisers’ satisfaction and revisit intention. Thus, the attributes of an effective cruise-marketing strategy in formulating consumer’s recreational experiences are examined.

A total of 287 questionnaires were collected and structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse data obtained from cruise travellers.

The empirical results indicated that service convenience and cruisers’ experience significantly influence perceived overall cruisers’ satisfaction and revisit intention, whereas perceived overall cruise value influences perceived overall cruisers’ satisfaction but not cruisers’ revisit intention. Furthermore, empirical assessments support that service convenience is a higher-order model (reflective-reflective) consisting of decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience and post-benefit convenience.

This research is among ongoing attempts that have been carried out regarding the qualities of cruise satisfaction and revisits intention and uncovers recreational experiences to propose an effective cruise-marketing strategy.

This paper aims to identify the drivers that explain loyalty behavior in cruise tourism with the aim of achieving a better understanding of repeat cruisers’ intentions to sail on the same ship or on another ship belonging to the same cruise line or cruise corporation.

Based on over 150,000 online reviews about their satisfaction and experience posted by cruisers using so-called electronic Word of Mouth (e-WOM), the authors apply both a graphic and an econometric technique through input-output circular plots and discrete choice models.

The main results show that cruisers’ behavior is influenced by multiple onboard attributes, such as the service crew, entertainment options, type of cabin, some characteristics of the ship (age, capacity) and the cruise line (Premium-Luxury versus mainstream), and, specifically, the quality and variety of the gastronomic experience.

The results highlight that repeats cruisers are predominantly linked to a cruise company or a cruise corporation rather than a particular ship. This result provides information on the moderators that can influence the customers’ repetition behavior, which might be useful for planning revenue management and extending knowledge on hospitality loyalty in general and in the cruise industry in particular, specifically under the current uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The previous literature has essentially examined revisit intentions in the cruise market from a qualitative approach and the authors have found no study to date that has simultaneously addressed this issue in three dimensions, namely, ship, cruise line and cruise corporation. The research fills this gap by determining the reasons why passengers would repeat a cruise either on the same ship, with the same cruise line or the same cruise corporation based on previous experience.

This study aims to investigate both the relationships among the on-board environment, overall satisfaction, perceived value and behavioral intentions and the moderating effects of gender, employment status, group composition and the propensity to stay on board in the context of cruise experience.

Relationships among constructs were tested on the basis of 417 surveys collected and analyzed with the structural equation modeling approach of partial least squares path modeling. A multi-group analysis was used to test the moderating effects.

The research findings suggest that on-board environment is a good predictor of behavioral intentions, but that the relationship is strongly mediated by satisfaction and perceived value. Moreover, the multi-group analysis of moderating effects indicated various differences that offer interesting insights for segmenting passengers; these insights have substantial implications for future studies and cruise line companies alike.

This study offers useful insights for managers who want to differentiate their value proposition with ship-centered elements.

This study contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for analyzing the role of the perceived on-board environment in passenger experience. From a managerial perspective, the moderating effects offer new insights for targeting and customizing the cruise experience value proposition.

The aim of this study is to examine cruise destination branding as a new resource for a region to promote an area as a differentiated cruise destination. The authors specifically study how the perceived brand awareness of a destination moderates the relation between cruisers’ motivation and destination satisfaction and word-of-mouth (WoM).

A statistical model was adapted from relevant literature and applied in the context of cruise destination branding. The model was tested by measuring Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and the fit of the model through confirmative factor analysis. Hierarchical regression analysis and moderated regression analysis were also conducted. The sample consisted of British cruisers (n = 182) visiting the city of Pori in Finland.

The findings suggest that factors that impel people to take cruises (social recognition, self-esteem, discovery, socialization, convenience and value) have a significant impact on satisfaction with the destination, whereas brand awareness is recognized as a moderator in the relation between social recognition and destination satisfaction and WoM. Research findings provide a framework to discuss and analyze the cruise tourism business in a holistic way. Whereas the earlier studies have focused on onboard experiences, in this study, the focus of attention is on the onshore experiences of the cruisers.

The study is focused on one Baltic Sea cruise destination, the British Cruise Company and a limited segment of senior British passengers.

By measuring cruisers’ internal travel motives and their perceptions of the brand awareness of the port-of-call during the cruise, or the destination, the results offer destination marketing organizations valuable information to develop their offerings to meet the needs of future travelers and visitors.

The study contributes to the cruise destination literature by linking the perceived brand awareness of a destination to motivational factors of the tourist and further to destination satisfaction and WoM behavior specifically in the context of onshore experiences.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the preferences of potential Japanese cruise ship tourists and identify the factors influencing their participation in cruise ship tourism. In the analysis, preference for cruise ports in East Asia is also examined.

The behavioral model of potential cruiser is developed through a mixed ordered logit approach. The data are collected by means of the stated preference method with the application of a Web-based questionnaire. Multiple answers are collected from each respondent. Hence, panel effects between answers are considered so as to obtain a robust model.

The results show that Nagasaki and Hong Kong ports are preferred, and other domestic ports, namely, Kobe, Kagoshima, and Naha are also relatively popular places to visit. However, potential Japanese cruisers are reluctant to visit two South Korean destinations which are frequently selected as cruise lines by avoiding Cabotage rule. Besides, shorter cruise duration and lower prices increase the possibility of participation in cruise tourism, particularly for working people. Retirees tend to have less interest in cruise tourism. However, Japanese-related services will increase retirees’ intentions to participate in cruise tourism.

This study attempts to analyze potential cruisers’ behavior toward cruise ship tourism in Japan and discusses how to increase the number of cruisers participating in cruise ship tourism. In this vein, repeat behavior should also be analyzed. Repeat behavior contributes to the maintenance and increase in cruisers in Japan.

There is no study on potential cruiser’s behavior analysis in Japan which is the emerging country as cruise market. Thus, the number of potential cruisers is expected to be high. This study reveals that potential cruisers’ preferences on cruise ship services (e.g. duration, price, on board services, etc.), which are separately analysed for working ages and retirees. Besides, preferences on port of calls in East Asian context are revealed. These results are useful for cruise ship industries, especially for cruise lines.

This study aims to examine the effects of the servicescape on experiential state, delight and memorability in the context of the cruise experience. This study also analyzes the moderating effects of sociodemographic characteristics (income and place of residency) and prior travel experience.

Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response theory, structural equation modeling via partial least squares path modeling was applied to a sample of 415 cruisers. A multi-group analysis was used to test the moderating effects.

Study results confirm the predictive role of the servicescape in creating experience, delight and memorability, with a place of residence, past travel experience and income exerting moderating effects on the aforementioned relationships.

The results offer useful insights for managers who operate not only in the cruise industry but also in other service contexts. Moreover, the moderating effects offer novel insights into smarter marketing on the part of service companies oriented toward value co-creation.

Only a few recent studies have focused on the servicescape in the context of the cruise industry. This study contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework and empirical evidence for analyzing the role of the onboard servicescape in cruisers’ experience, delight and memorability while also considering the moderating effects that of sociodemographic and travel-related characteristics exert on the different paths.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the onshore satisfaction of cruise passengers, in the port of call of Cartagena de Indias.

A questionnaire was given to 1,361 passengers of 28 cruise ships during October and November of 2009, then factor analysis and cluster analysis were employed.

The results suggest that although visitors held a high overall satisfaction of the onshore experience, there are two dimensions that require the attention of tourist policy makers: the city infrastructure (traffic, noise, cleanliness and infrastructure) and the general shopping experience. In particular, the worst experience seems to be related to street vendors. Moreover, there is evidence that tourists from the USA are more exigent of being fully satisfied.

The survey was only conducted in the months of October and November. Future research can also include the repetition of the study in different seasons to compare results. The study shows that there is a good potential for the growth of tourism activity of the destination because over 52 per cent of the participants declared their intention of return to the city as land tourists and more than 60 per cent will recommend the destination to their friends.

The application of known methodologies to an emergent destination, in which many stakeholders are involved and concerned about cruise tourism evolution and its effects on the destination.

The purpose of this study is to explore the onboard activity choice of Chinese cruise tourists on three international cruise ships departing Shanghai, China.

A qualitative research method was adopted for this study. Data was collected using participant observation, casual conversation and semi-structured in-depth interviews from 76 Chinese cruise respondents. The data was analysed using thematic analysis.

Chinese cruise tourists were offered various onboard activities, most of which were Western. Booking these activities involved tourists searching information and assessing and choosing what appealed to them. They chose these activities according to the consumption values, and their decision was influenced by both context-dependent variables—the variety and style of the activities and their capacity to appeal, and the personal variable—age. Chinese tourists were satisfied with the array of onboard activity options and viewed them as an opportunity to experience Western culture. However, when they were unfamiliar with or did not understand some activities, they preferred Chinese activities.

This study formulates propositions to underlie a conceptual framework of how cruise tourists choose an onboard activity. The findings derived from the data will be valuable to cruise lines seeking to better manage tourists’ onboard experiences.