The proportion of British passengers that booked their cruise within three months to departure hit a 10 year high in 2013, affected by a weak economic climate at the start of the year plus the Costa Concordia incident, Cruise Lines' International Association (CLIA) UK & Ireland said.

"This affected the early booking market for 2013 cruises to the extent that the ratio of cruises booked more than nine months in advance (23%) was the lowest for 10 years," CLIA said. "This led to more late sales in 2013 despite the slow economic improvement in the UK economy as the year progressed," CLIA said in a statement.

"In times of economic stress, it is no surprise to see that the biggest changes over the last three years are the way that more all-inclusive pricing and other special offers have taken on even greater importance."

On the other hand, ultra luxury lines attracted more than 27,000 passengers last year from Britain.

“Momentum has returned to the UK cruise market in 2013 with significant growth in passengers numbers and especially in embarkations from our home ports – both of which are impressive achievements when set against a backdrop of an economy that has proven slow to recover," said Andy Harmer, director of CLIA UK& Ireland in the statement.

“The cruise industry’s continued confidence in the UK market is clearly demonstrated by the increasing number of ships that will sail from British ports in the coming years, and we believe this marks a key point in the continuing growth of the UK cruise market.”