Cruise ship itineraries and occupancy rates

Do the different cruise line itineraries have an effect on cruise ship occupancy rates? This paper attempts to answer this question by examining occupancy rates of almost 30,000 cruise ship voyages, that set sail on fifteen different cruise ship itineraries. All of the voyages investigated disembarked in U.S. homeports, and include voyages to the Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Alaska, Mexico, Hawaii, and even cruises to nowhere. The researchers performed a linear regression analysis of the data and reported that cruise itineraries do have a significant effect on cruise ship occupancy rates, and the regression model explained a significant proportion (23%) of the variance in occupancy rate. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.