Be the First One<br >on Your Block<br >In This Chapter<br >~ A history lesson: The cruise industry as we know it<br >~ A rundown of who s cruising today<br >~ All the assumptions people make about cruising， and why they re wron<br >So you think you might want to take a cruise vacation? You are not alone.<br >According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)， the industry s<br >marketing group， some 63% of American adults surveyed say they dream of<br >taking a cruise sometime in their lives. That s 74 million people[<br >The CLIA marketing folks have jumped on this statistic with a vengeance，<br >producing an $8 million advertising campaign called "You Haven t Lived<br >Until You ve Cruised，" which includes ads that note， "A resort just sits there<br >A cruise will move you..." Apparently， though， not all of us have been so<br >moved yet， since only about 10% of the U.S. population， or somewhat mor~<br >than 30 million people， has ever taken a cruise. But that number is up from<br >4% 0nly 10 years ago.<br >What does that mean? It means that you still might<br >first one on your block to try it.<br >Reasons people give for not choosing a cruise vacation are varied: I ll get sick<br >l~l get fat. I ll be bored. I ll be referred to by the rest of the passengers as "the kid. ~<br >As I ll show later in this chapter， these are all largely untrue. But before we<br >get to specifics， let s take a brief look at where the cruise industry has been<br >and where it is today.<br ><br >