CLIA Takes Over Fort Lauderdale Convention Center for Annual Cruise360 Conference

One week ago, Bud Darr, the president and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), stood in front of an audience of cruise industry insiders, suppliers, and port partners, and delivered the news that the state of the cruise industry is “excellent.” This week he did it again, this time to an audience of travel advisors gathered together for the 2026 Cruise360 conference.

While the wording was slightly different, the message was the same.

“There’s great reason for optimism,” Darr said, referencing statistics like 37.2 million cruise passengers worldwide in 2025, an intent to cruise of nearly 90%, and an order book of more than 80 ships keeping shipyards full through at least the late 2030s.

“That doesn’t happen by accident. That happens by true commitment of the cruise lines, but also true commitment from the investment community and the banking community that has to make all that come together economically.”

Cruisers Are Getting Younger, and That’s Excellent News

Darr also referenced the growing number of cruisers under 40 – about one-third of all passengers.

“That’s exciting for the future. That number keeps coming down, that means that we’ve got a new lifeline of people coming in to enjoy these experiences and that’s good news for all of you.”

Even better for travel advisors is that increasingly the generation that is availing itself of travel advisor services are the younger generations, Charles Sylvia, CLIA’s vice president of industry & trade relations, told TMR.

“That plus the continued trend that we’re seeing of new-to-cruise being at higher and higher numbers is that that market share is available as a client base,” Darr added in a one-on-one with TMR later that day. “When you have supply and demand growing together and showing positive signs it’s a good business to be in.”

(Read more about all the good news for travel advisors in this year’s State of the Cruise Industry.)

Darr finished up on stage by reiterating how important the travel advisor community is to the cruise industry.

“You are still the most important distribution channel by far,” he said. “The work you provide is extremely valuable to the cruise lines. You are an extremely valuable community to us.”

“You shape the landscape of how cruise is sold, how it’s understood, and how it grows. The role you play is vital,” he added.

Presidents Panel

Opening day general session at Cruise360 is always dominated by the Presidents Panel, which returned after a brief absence last year. This year’s panel comprised just two presidents – Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Marc Kazlauskas and Carnival’s Christine Duffy – and John Lovell, senior advisor to Virgin Voyages. The panel was moderated by Cruise Planners’ chief strategy officer Scott Koepf, who said he chose the three panelists because all three have worked on the travel agency retail side at some point in their careers.

Speaking of her own hiring as president at Carnival Cruise Line 11 years ago, Duffy admitted she was an “unconventional choice” to lead a cruise line at the time. But she added, it was a testament to then Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald for understanding the “importance of putting people in leadership that understand from the bottom up how things work.”

When asked what they believe are the biggest challenges facing the travel advisor community these days, the executives each went in different directions.

Kazlauskas pointed out three issues he believes are a challenge for advisors: unpredictability, air, and disintermediation.

“One, which hits us all, is unpredictability. That’s stuff you just don’t know,” he said. “You guys get the calls at 10, 11 o’clock at night when someone is stuck overseas because a volcano goes off, a bomb goes off, a flight gets canceled. That unpredictability is why you pick partners that are predictable to you, that have your back… that will work with you to help get a client home or get them where they need to be.”

Speaking of disintermediation and supplies that push direct sales, Kazlauskas said NCL – and all the CLIA cruise lines – want the trade to be healthy.

“We want to make sure that you help us. I look at you as one of our main sales channels.”

Lovell cited AI as a continuing challenge for advisors, not because he believes AI will replace advisors but because he thinks advisors need to be more proactive about embracing the AI tools being created for them.

“A lot has been made of it in the wrong way. I think that AI, for those of you in this room who choose to embrace it, will absolutely be the biggest asset in the world for you,” Lovell said. “The tools that we’re developing are being developed with each and every one of you in mind because, ultimately, we need you to make the right recommendation for the right product. AI will help you make the best decision for your customer.”

Duffy turned to a tried and true challenge that has always been there for travel advisors – where do you focus your time.

“As an advisor you think about, where do I invest my time, where I get the greatest return,” she said, pointing out that figuring out where to focus and what to focus is not as much a challenge as it is an opportunity.”