Winter blues leads to cruise bookings boom

BOOKINGS for cruise holidays are expected to surge by up to 25 per cent this month as sun-deprived Australians rush to book a post-winter break.

P&O Pacific dawn

BOOKINGS for cruise holidays are expected to surge by up to 25 per cent this month as sun-deprived Australians rush to book a post-winter break.

Cruise company P&O said August was peak month for bookings.

"The combination of three drearily cold months plus a house full of kids during the winter school holidays makes parents want to escape to somewhere warm,'' P&O Cruises corporate communications manager David Jones said.

A survey of more than 1000 people commissioned by the company found more than half of respondents planned to book a holiday with their tax cheque or government bonuses.

The cold winter weather also prompted two thirds of people to check how much annual leave they were owed.

The Great Winter Escape survey also found 24 per cent of those surveyed thought about being somewhere warmer on most days during winter, with women much more likely than men to yearn for winter warmth.