Cruise Industry Terms Glossary

The shorthand of cruise trade news, defined in plain English.

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Cruise industry news is full of shorthand. This glossary defines the terms you meet most in cruise trade news and industry reports, in plain English.

Capacity and Performance

Lower berth: A standard bed in a cabin, normally two per cabin. Ship and fleet capacity are quoted in lower berths.
Upper berth: An extra bed, such as a pull-down bunk or sofa bed, used by third and fourth guests.
Double occupancy: Two guests in a cabin; most cruise fares are quoted per person on this basis.
Occupancy: Guests carried as a percentage of lower-berth capacity. Over 100% means cabins carried third or fourth guests.
Passenger cruise days: Number of guests multiplied by the number of days they spent on board.
APCD: Available passenger cruise days: lower berths multiplied by days the ship is in service. A capacity measure in company reports.
Yield: Revenue per available passenger cruise day; “net yield” uses revenue after certain costs as each company defines them.

Gross tonnage (GT): A measure of a ship’s enclosed volume, not its weight.
Newbuild: A ship under construction or recently delivered.
Orderbook: All ships contracted but not yet delivered. See cruise ship orderbook.
Class: A series of ships built to the same basic design.
Float out, sea trials, delivery: Milestones from first floating to testing at sea to handover to the line.
Dry dock: A period out of service for maintenance or refurbishment.

Homeport: The port where a ship regularly begins and ends its cruises.
Deployment: Where a line places its ships, season by season.
Repositioning cruise: A one-way voyage moving a ship between seasonal regions.
Source market: The country or region passengers come from.
Turnaround day: The day one cruise ends and the next begins at the same port.

Wave Season: The early-year period when cruise lines launch many of their biggest promotions. Current offers: Wave Season.
NCF: Non-commissionable fare: the part of a cruise price on which agents are not paid commission, as defined by each line.
BDM: Business development manager: a cruise line’s representative who works with travel agencies.
Group block: Cabins held for a group under one contract.
FAM: A familiarization trip for travel professionals to experience a product.

Tender port: A port where the ship anchors offshore and guests reach land by small boats called tenders.
Port of call: A stop on an itinerary that is not the start or end point.
Shore power: Electricity supplied from land to a docked ship, so it can reduce engine use in port.
Itinerary change: A change to ports or times made by the line, often for weather, port conditions or operations.
Expedition ship: A smaller, often ice-strengthened ship built for remote regions, typically carrying landing craft.

More cruise vocabulary for travelers lives at Cruise Institute. For the selling vocabulary in practice, Cruise Agent University maps agent training.

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