For as long as anyone can remember, cruising has been surprisingly resistant to inflation. Indeed, as HAL CEO Stein Kruse mused at the last Seatrade Miami:

"it's almost disappointing that we're selling cruises at the same price as we were when I entered the industry in 1991."

This is changing.

And it's not just the $7 or $8 fuel surcharge or better onboard revenue. Ticket prices are on the rise. We can see hard evidence in the quarterly reports of public companies like Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL) and Carnival Corp & Plc (CCL).

For fiscal Q1 2008 vs. Q1 2007, RCL reported an increase in passenger ticket revenues per available bed of 9.5%, while Carnival Corp reported an increase of 7.6%.

Ouch. Cruises are still a bargain in comparison to land-based vacations, but it sounds like guests may need to do a touch of belt-tightening before they hit the buffet.