The number of Europeans - including the British - taking a cruise has hit the four million mark two years earlier than expected.
According to the European Cruise Council, numbers leaped 17% last year to hit the new record, which is up from 2.6 million five years ago. The ECC had predicted four million in 2010.
The UK is way ahead of the rest with 1.3 million passengers. Germany comes second with 763,000, up 8% on 2006, followed by Italy at number three with 640,000 passengers, up 24% on the previous year.
Jane Archer
