Cruise ship travel is now one of the biggest tourist industries in the world, with millions of passengers taking to the waves every year. Some of the more popular destinations for cruise ships leaving from the US include Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, Central and South America, and Miami. Globally, the passenger cruise trade accounts for over 10 million tourists annually. Traditionally, destinations such as the Caribbean and the Med have been the most popular, but cruise ship routes encompass the whole globe, and in some cases are the only method of getting to certain locations - such as the Arctic and Antarctic - that are inaccessible by air. Most cruises sell out pretty quickly nowadays, due to increasing consumer demand, and as a result cruise ship firms literally can’t build new ships fast enough. The industry average length of cruise is around a week, but cruises have been known to last anywhere between a few hours, in the case of gambling or nightclub cruises to a few months in the case of round the world cruises. Any ship sailing in international waters is required to display a flag of registry from a licensed country. The most common flags are those of Panama, the Bahamas, Liberia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the USA. The reason for this is that these countries have long established maritime histories, and have the necessary infrastructure in place to do the required safety and sanitation checks. Unfortunately, this is not all good news, as this also means that a large variety of local diseases can be spread throughout the ship if sanitation guidelines are not universally followed. The fact that cruise ships usually stop off at a number of different city ports en route can compound this problem. The sheer amount of people brought into close proximity to one another means that any diseases brought on board can be spread very quickly across the ship. Therefore, it is vital that the highest standards of hygiene and sanitation are upheld by passengers and crew members aboard a cruise ship if their journey is to be a pleasant one.
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Cruise ship travel is now one of the biggest tourist industries in the world, with millions of passengers taking to the waves every year. Some of the more popular destinations for cruise ships leaving from the US include Mexico, the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, Central and South America, and Miami.
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