The wide range of possibilities in music tourism, party tourism, hotel management and local city tourism and etc. form a comprehensive sailing experience (Hefner et al., 2014; Cashman, 2016; Paananen and Minoia, 2019). Cruise tourism is one of those tourism phenomena that has experienced significant growth but has not attracted much attention, a claim supported by the growing turnover, the number of passengers, the number of ships or ports in operation and the number of countries in operation (Vega-Muñoz et al., 2020). Cruise tourism has a double impact on the economy of the destination. On the one hand, the direct impact is generated by passengers, crew activities and land-based consumer spending, as well as revenues received by cruise lines and local suppliers that provide services to ports and ships (Chua et al., 2015). On the other hand, the indirect impact is the income generated by the increase in consumption within the scope of the tourism economy that is caused by the purchase of consumables and services from local suppliers and the increase in income generated from cruise tourism activities (Castillo-Manzano et al., 2015). In addition, there are also positive and negative impacts on local communities. Although theoretically increasing employment has led to income growth, little evidence of improvement has been found. On the contrary, cruise tourism has had a significant negative impact on the local environment, and local residents have also suffered from a large number of tourists invaded, and tourists often do not respect local customs, traditions and beliefs (MacNeill and Wozniak, 2018). Cruise tourism can also be studied in terms of the environmental impact of the increasing number and scale of ships, destination ports and cruise passengers, which are covered in the following themes due to cross-cutting and overlapping content.

With huge growth potential, luxury cruises are considered to be one of the most promising target markets. Factors such as perception of crowding, food quality, service quality and cabin quality have an impact on brand prestige, which in turn affects customer perception of well-being, brand recognition and loyalty (Hwang and Han, 2014; Hyun and Kim, 2015). In the brand community, the cruise brand, cruise products and the relationship with other cruise ships have a positive impact on the uniqueness of the brand (Shim et al., 2017). Brand tribalism has a positive effect on the formation of passengers’ perceived consumer power, passengers’ perception of consumer power influences their engagement, and engagement has a moderating effect on passengers’ satisfaction, loyalty and perceived happiness (Han and Hyun, 2018; Lee and Kim, 2019). Satisfaction, loyalty, and the “conspicuousness” of product use affect travelers’ purchase behavior of products, and happiness perception affects travelers’ willingness to pay for price premiums (Han et al., 2018; Yu, 2019).

The pleasure that cruise travel brings to cruise passengers is created primarily through emotional and relational experiences in the short term, with much of the long-term impact coming from the experience of thinking (Lyu et al., 2018). The difference of passenger culture is reflected in behavioral intention, satisfaction, emotional value, service quality, and etc. (Sanz Blas and Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014; Forgas-Coll et al., 2016; Li and Fairley, 2018). It is necessary for cruise lines or destination ports to reduce the gap between marketing and actual experience in order to increase passenger arrivals and increase revenue. Studying the relationship between elements such as passenger satisfaction, loyalty, and behavioral intentions, factors influencing the decision-making process, the volume and structure of passenger expenditures, and factors influencing willingness to pay (Sanz Blas and Carvajal-Trujillo, 2014; Chua et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2017; Bahja et al., 2019), and thus segmenting the market according to elements such as nationality, gender, age, satisfaction, perceptions of safety, and consumption patterns (Brida et al., 2013), can help planners and managers increase the likelihood of repeat visits and positive word-of-mouth. The design of the ship, the quality of the guide service and the design of the land excursions also affect the passenger experience (Oklevik et al., 2018; Dai et al., 2019; Buzova et al., 2019b). In addition, attitudes towards cruise travel are gradually shifting by age, with Gen Xers and Millennials becoming more optimistic about cruise travel (Wang et al., 2018; Cooper et al., 2019).

In a mature market, looking for new destinations to expand the catalogue offered by cruise lines to potential customers means that most new ports correspond to port areas in developing countries (Vega-Muñoz et al., 2020). In view of the positive impact of tourism on the ports of call and hinterland, it is necessary to analyze the factors of lines in port site selection (Vega-Muñoz et al., 2020). It is necessary for the cruise lines to evaluate the port’s traffic, performance, safety risks and other factors before planning the itinerary (Kofjač et al., 2013; Vidmar and Perkovič, 2015). The studies of regional port focus on the Mediterranean. The port/terminal serves as a bridge between cruise lines, global operators, and local businesses and infrastructure. The study of port class, concentration, tourist satisfaction, cooperative competition, forms of governance, structure, strategy and other elements within the Mediterranean region (Kofjač et al., 2013; Vidmar and Perkovič, 2015; Cusano et al., 2017; Esteve-Perez and Garcia-Sanchez, 2018; Pallis et al., 2018; Sanz-Blas et al., 2019), provides port authorities and potential investors with a basis for decision making and facilitates port operators to address the challenge of cruise traffic seasonality and thus achieve sustainable port management. In order to reduce the pollution level of the port, the port implements cost differentiation, and proposes to use (electric) bicycles as public transportation for tourists from the port of call to inland scenic spots (Bardi et al., 2019; Mjelde et al., 2019).

In 2017, 449 cruise ships were put into service, 27 more in 2018, and 24 more in 2019. The passenger capacity of these ships ranged from 3,000 to 5,000, causing significant environmental impacts on the world, including polar regions (Vega-Muñoz et al., 2020). The emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur particles during cruise transport lead to air pollution; the incineration of garbage and the generation of organic waste lead to certain economic impact, social costs as well as water pollution, such as coastal waters polluted by high levels of oil, detergents, plastic residues and bacteria (Mölders et al., 2013; Rumpf et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2018; Suneel et al., 2019). In addition, cruise ships have caused serious impacts on living things. For example, the invasion of alien species, engine noise and collisions lead to the death of birds and affect the ecosystems of many marine species, especially cetaceans (Bocetti, 2011; Casoli et al., 2016; Halliday et al., 2018). Growing international concern about environmental issues has prompted many major cruise lines to invest in green technology and fulfill their social responsibility in the marine environment, while optimizing the design of ship energy systems and cruise itinerary planning (Rivarolo et al., 2018; Armellini et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019; Yan et al., 2019).

The international composition of the cruise population and its semi-enclosed environment are conducive to the outbreak of infectious diseases, such as vaccine-preventable diseases (chickenpox), respiratory diseases (A/B influenza), diseases caused by norovirus, and Legionella disease (Mouchtouri et al., 2009; Cramer et al., 2012; Payne et al., 2018). Researches have shown that timely vaccination before sea travel can prevent the outbreak of related diseases (Mitruka et al., 2012). Respiratory diseases usually cause large-scale influenza outbreaks and occur outside the traditional flu season. A comprehensive epidemic prevention and control plan, including timely antiviral treatment, may reduce the impact of the flu epidemic (Millman et al., 2015). Norovirus is prone to gastroenteritis, and individuals in crew cabins and restaurants face the highest risk of infection (Millman et al., 2015). Vigorously promoting good hand-washing habits and increasing the ventilation rate of some or all locations can effectively reduce the risk of infection for passengers (Millman et al., 2015). Isolating sick passengers and cleaning the cabin are also beneficial (Towers et al., 2018). Legionnaires’ disease has a significant relationship with water supply systems. The application of water treatment systems in ship water supply systems is expected to improve ship water management and reduce the incidence of passengers (Mouchtouri et al., 2012).

One important research topic that has been overlooked in existing cruise researches is the cruise supply chain. From the perspective of the global value chain of the cruise industry, cruise operations account for 50% of the output value, with the highest added value, and cruise supply is a key link in cruise operation management and has considerable economic benefits (Huang and Yang, 2020). Due to the short replenishment time of the cruise ship, there may be conflicts of interest with the supplier, which will affect the customer experience. Therefore, it is necessary to do in-depth research on the cruise supply chain to promote the establishment of long-term and reliable relationships between cruise lines and service providers.

In addition to the following two items, one is to use GPS technology to track the behavior of cruise passengers at their destinations (De Cantis et al., 2016), and the other is to use GIS to study the mobility of cruise passengers (Paananen and Minoia, 2019).According to Naci Polata, no research technology has been found to reduce the negative impact of the cruise industry or promote the sustainable development of the cruise industry.

The importance of children in the family’s choice of cruise line was identified. While on board, they demanded a certain amount of autonomy so that they could create their own memorable cruise experience (Radic, 2019). Cruise tourism increasingly attracts millennial and generation X family vacations. Children play a decisive role in shaping the future consumption pattern of cruise travel (Radic, 2019). Therefore, with the rapid increase in family cruise travel packages, it is extremely important to understand children’s cruise travel experience (Wondirad, 2019).

According to the survey, more and more tourists will stay at or near the cruise port. In fact, 65% of cruise passengers spend a few more days in the ports of departure and arrival (China.com, C, 2019). The new generation of cruise passengers has seen a shift in journey schedule, with many passengers looking for shorter trips. The traditional cruise itinerary has been completely unable to meet the needs of passengers. Cruise itinerary planning needs to focus not only on passenger satisfaction, but also on the impact of emission control zones on cruise traffic (Zhen et al., 2018). It is a big challenge for cruise lines to plan, design and optimize a highly attractive, low-polluting itinerary (China.com, C, 2019).

Luxury cruises are considered to be one of the most promising target markets due to the huge growth potential (Jeong and Hyun, 2019). However, as the service is expensive, a reasonable pricing strategy is required (Jeong and Hyun, 2019). Reputation plays a certain role in the operation of luxury cruises and can influence passenger perceptions of happiness and loyalty (Hwang and Han, 2014). Research on brand reputation helps cruise lines to better develop their luxury cruise business.

The increase of cruise activities in port cities has caused a certain degree of traffic congestion to the local tourism resources and historical centers, and hindered the flow of passengers from the port of call to inland tourist attractions (Rosa-Jiménez et al., 2018). The mobility of tourists is an important criterion for cruise destinations as well as the city’s economic resources (Perea-Medina et al., 2019). Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the potential public transportation modes of cruise passengers entering the mainland.

The global growth of the cruise shipping industry has had a strong impact on the ecological environment. The cross-regional and multi-participant nature of cruise routes and the trend towards larger ships have led to a wider environmental impact. Environmental sustainability has always been a hot spot in cruise research, but the research branch rarely involves the environmental responsibility of cruise passengers and corporate social responsibility. Cruise passengers and companies should jointly participate in environmental protection actions.

The cruise industry is facing more and more challenges due to the strict regulation of anthropogenic emission limits, new targets to reduce carbon emissions and potential carbon pricing (Trivyza et al., 2019). In addition, it is imperative for the cruise industry to discover new technologies and clean energy and promote development. The performance of cruise energy systems needs to be continuously optimized to meet the comprehensive goals of life cycle cost and life cycle carbon emissions.

Causing changes in the ecosystems of sensitive areas such as the polar regions climate change has brought serious consequences to humans and requires immediate response measures (Dawson et al., 2016; Lamers and Pashkevich, 2018). Although the number of tourists in sensitive areas such as Antarctica seems to be relatively small compared to other destinations, recent trends show that the number of tourists in these areas has increased sharply, with no signs of decrease, especially the emergence of large cruise ships (Wondirad, 2019). Cruise tourism has a great impact on climate change, and the industry itself is also affected by extreme weather due to climate change. Therefore, the relationship between cruise industry and climate change should be one of the most thematic research areas in the next few years (Bender et al., 2016; Wondirad, 2019).

In recent years, the growth rate of emerging cruise market in Asia & Pacific region is higher than the average level (Sun et al., 2014). As one of the core elements of the Asian cruise market, China is growing rapidly in terms of cruise visits (Sun et al., 2014). However, there is currently a lack of research on the development of China’s cruise industry to enable stakeholders in cruise tourism to understand the characteristics of the Chinese market. This means that it is necessary to carry out relevant scientific research into this budding and promising area of cruise passenger generation (Wondirad, 2019).

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a serious negative impact on the global cruise industry, and it also highlights that international epidemic prevention is still weak (McAleer, 2020). Since the worldwide suspension of cruises, the international cruise industry has carefully analyzed the lessons of the infection incidents of cruise tourists in Yokohama, Japan in the early stages of the epidemic, and has actively studied safety and health measures and risk prevention mechanisms for the resumption of cruises. Some countries and regions around the world have resumed cruise ships. However, among the cruise ships that have resumed sailing around the world, some cruise ships have been suspended due to the epidemic. Therefore, the research of cruise disease risk management is still worth discussing.