Cruise.co.uk Reveals Which Cruise Line is Regarded the Primark of the Seas

London, United Kingdom, June 30, 2010 --(PR.com)-- UK’s largest Cruise Community, www.Cruise.co.uk have revealed the results of how major cruise lines are perceived by their customers. Many cruise lines where shocked by the results as they got an insight into customer awareness.

Cruise.co.uk asked over 3000 users to consider the cruise line they had travelled with, a one word description, a make of car and high street retailer they would use to associate it with and finally the brand’s closest cruise rival.

The results revealed that Thomson Cruises was likened to budget retail chain Primark, while cruise Line rivals Fred Olsen and P&O Cruises where associated with the likes of Debenhams and M&S. Another cruise line which didn’t fare very well is NCL, which was described as the Tesco of the cruising industry.

Whilst most cruise lines assumed customers perceived them as ‘premium’ brands, in reality most were associated with ‘middle class’ products and services such as Ford, Tesco and even in the case of Thomson Cruises the budget retailer, Primark.

The survey also found that cruise customers knew little of the smaller niche players who have recently entered the cruise market such as Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic, Viking River Cruises etc.

Seamus Conlon, Managing Director commented: "As a forum we like to regularly ask our users what they think about the cruise brands and their level of service. Our users are encouraged to leave comments for other ‘would be’ passengers about all aspects of cruising including the quality of service, food, tours and accommodation."

This latest survey, conducted for Travel Weekly, a publication for the travel trade, shows that whilst cruising is still perceived as elitist, many brands are now being associated with more mainstream names and products.

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