With the recent spate of bigger and more innovative cruise ships being launched into the cruise market, known as ‘mega' ships, which offer holiday makers a whole host of unbelievable new activity and entertainment options, it's interesting to consider whether there is a future for cruise lines such as Cunard, who pride themselves on remaining faithful to the traditional legacies of sea travel.

‘Mega' ships offer a wide selection of innovative activity and entertainment options including everything from zip wires to carousels, to ice skating to surf parks and from rock climbing to ten pin bowling. These monster sized vessels couldn't be moving further away from the traditional cruise image if they tried.

And it's not only the mega ships that are moving away from the traditional cruising image, even the ‘normal' sized ships for many of today's cruise lines bear little or no resemblance to the image most people would conjure up when thinking about cruise holidays. Dining is one area where almost all of the main players in the industry are breaking the mould – and now, instead of structured and rigid dining times, which for some potential cruisers can be off putting as they don't want to be rushed in the day in order not to miss dinner, there are a whole range of more flexible dining options with varying names, but basically meaning the same thing, no set times for dining. Names for these initiatives include Flexible Dining, Anytime Dining and My Time Dining and a wide range of cruise lines offer these more flexible options including Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International and Princess Cruises.

However, although these new and more contemporary concepts are doubtless assisting in the ongoing growth of the number of people who cruise from the UK, let's not forget that we are British, and as such, we do love tradition. It has to be a positive thing that Cunard remain true to their roots as there are many, many cruisers who would be devastated if they could no longer find afternoon tea served by white gloved waiters, formal dining and the deep wooden décor of the stunningly beautiful and luxurious five star Cunard vessels.

These traditional cruisers are the staunch bread and butter of the industry. These holiday makers generally have money to spend, remain loyal to traditional cruising and repeat cruise holidays time and time again. They also tend to be slightly older, and as their children have left home, can travel ‘off peak' thereby filling ships which otherwise may sail with empty staterooms.

It's worth considering the hotel sector within the travel industry. Within this sector, there is hotels worldwide to satisfy all different tastes, from traditional country manor hotels, to funky and contemporary city venues, we can really look at the cruise industry being the same thing. No longer is cruising purely designed for only one type of customer, but there is now a cruise line, and a ship for everyone. It's all about choice now, and it's pretty much certain that, whilst the modern cruising options are helping to grow the market, without the traditional lines such as Cunard, the sector would most definitely suffer.