According to Travel Guard’s recent Pulse Poll survey of more than 200 travel agents, 44 percent of agents said their wave season bookings are up compared to a year ago. Thirty-four percent described bookings as flat, and 21 percent reported a year-over-year decrease. Of the agents seeing higher sales, 38 percent said bookings have increased ‘somewhat,’ and 6 percent have experienced a ‘large’ increase.

A commanding 71 percent of agents say the Caribbean (including Yucatan, Mexico) is the most popular destination for clients based on bookings to date. The next most popular destinations were Hawaii/Alaska, bringing in 12.8 percent, followed by the Mediterranean at 5.9 percent. Not surprisingly, agents in the Travel Guard survey pinpointed price as the most important factor for clients considering a cruise vacation (44 percent), followed by destination (34 percent). Specific cruise line preference ranked third (14 percent).