Love at Sea: Eight in Ten (81%) Say a Cruise Ship is a Romantic Place to Take a Vacation

Toronto, ON - If Cupid needs a helping hand, most Canadians believe he'll find it on the high seas. According to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Tripharbour.ca, eight in ten (81%) believe that a cruise ship is a romantic place to take a vacation.

• 82% of those aged 35-54 agreed that cruise ships are a romantic place to take a vacation, followed by those aged 18-34 (81%) and those 55+ (80%).
• Men (82%) were just as likely as women (81%) to agree that cruise ships were a romantic place to take a vacation.

While Canadians give cruise vacations top marks for romance, they also rank them high for excitement, with 94% saying cruise ships travel to exciting destinations all over the world. Moreover, two-thirds of Canadians (64%) believe that taking a cruise vacation is more exciting than staying in a hotel.

• Atlantic Canadians (76%) were most likely to say that taking a cruise vacation is more exciting than staying in a hotel, followed by residents of Alberta (69%), British Columbia (67%), Ontario (64%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (63%) and Quebec (58%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of TripHarbour from January 13 to 15, 2009. This online survey of 1043 Canadians was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The results of this poll are based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls, however, an unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had the entire adult population of Canada been polled.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Research Manager
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

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