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CAMBRIDGE IELTS 21 · LISTENING

Cambridge IELTS 21 Listening Test 2

Questions, answers and available transcript excerpts for Cambridge IELTS 21, Test 2.

Start Listening practice →Answers & evidence ↓

Listening answers & supporting evidence

The answer key is listed below, followed by available explanations and supporting sentences.

  1. 1.13 January / 13 of January / 13th January / 13th of January / the 13 January / the 13 of January / the 13th January / the 13th of January / 13.01 / 13.1
  2. 2.48 / forty-eight
  3. 3.pizza
  4. 4.India
  5. 5.mirror
  6. 6.6 April / 6 of April / 6th April / 6th of April / the 6 April / the 6 of April / the 6th April / the 6th of April / 06.04 / 6.4
  7. 7.natural
  8. 8.67.50 / sixty-seven fifty
  9. 9.shirt
  10. 10.hammer
  11. 11.B
  12. 12.E
  13. 13.C
  14. 14.D
  15. 15.F
  16. 16.B
  17. 17.D
  18. 18.A
  19. 19.H
  20. 20.E
  21. 21.B
  22. 22.E
  23. 23.C
  24. 24.D
  25. 25.A
  26. 26.C
  27. 27.C
  28. 28.D
  29. 29.F
  30. 30.A
  31. 31.pollution
  32. 32.tax
  33. 33.chocolate
  34. 34.timing
  35. 35.cost
  36. 36.rules
  37. 37.diving
  38. 38.vegan
  39. 39.wifi
  40. 40.videos

Answer explanations

Question 113 January / 13 of January / 13th January / 13th of January / the 13 January / the 13 of January / the 13th January / the 13th of January / 13.01 / 13.1

I think that was on the 13th of January.
Yes, you're right about the date, but it's 59 pounds actually.

The staff member confirms 13 January; the correction concerns the price, not the date.

Question 248 / forty-eight

The actual cost is £48 but then there's an extra charge as well as that for the ingredients - I'm not sure how much that is, no more than twenty pounds I think.

The class fee is £48, with ingredients charged separately.

Question 3pizza

Oh, various types of bread; I think they make white bread and then they make sourdough, that seems to be very fashionable at present, and they learn how to make pizza, which is apparently really good.

Besides white bread and sourdough, participants make pizza.

Question 4India

The teacher's great, the type of massage done is a traditional technique used in India and she actually did her training there.

The teacher trained in India.

Question 5mirror

You practise it on yourself so you have to take a mirror to the class, so you can see what you're doing.

Participants need a mirror to observe their own practice.

Question 66 April / 6 of April / 6th April / 6th of April / the 6 April / the 6 of April / the 6th April / the 6th of April / 06.04 / 6.4

Yes that's sometime in April, I think. Let me check ... yes, it's on the 6th.
It was on the 23rd of January but they had to change the date.

The date was changed from 23 January to 6 April.

Question 7natural

I think one reason why people like it is because the candles are all made out of natural products.

Only natural products are used for the candles.

Question 867.50 / sixty-seven fifty

It's £67 .50, which is really good value I think - there's a similar class I've seen that was £110.

The silk painting class costs £67.50; £110 refers to a different class.

Question 9shirt

No, the only thing is everyone has to bring something to protect their clothing, like an apron if you've got one, or a shirt that you don't use any more, because the dye can really stain your clothes.

An old shirt is the alternative to an apron.

Question 10hammer

Yeah, that would be really useful, and I even need to learn how to use a hammer because I always end up hitting my fingers.
Yes, you'll do that too.

The employee confirms hammer use is included.

Question 11B

As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don't even need to take a map with 011/12 YQJJ•
At one point, the route goes inland slightly and passes a castle built in the 1400s near to a now-vanished market town.
The castle's now just a pile of stones but it's a great place 011/12 to take photos, and fascinating information boards show what it once looked like.

The pair accepts B and E in either order: visit the castle ruins, and clear signposts remove concern about getting lost. The supplied script contains OCR artefacts in these sentences.

Question 12E

As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don't even need to take a map with 011/12 YQJJ•
At one point, the route goes inland slightly and passes a castle built in the 1400s near to a now-vanished market town.
The castle's now just a pile of stones but it's a great place 011/12 to take photos, and fascinating information boards show what it once looked like.

The pair accepts B and E in either order: visit the castle ruins, and clear signposts remove concern about getting lost. The supplied script contains OCR artefacts in these sentences.

Question 13C

At the highest point, you can stop to take in the views, and those with lots of energy can climb the tower that's situated where there was once a seventeenth 013/14 century hunting lodge.
The route continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back 013/14 down to the starting point - the car park at Melby Coal Mine.

The pair accepts C and D in either order: returning to the start makes the walk circular; the tower replaces an older hunting lodge.

Question 14D

At the highest point, you can stop to take in the views, and those with lots of energy can climb the tower that's situated where there was once a seventeenth 013/14 century hunting lodge.
The route continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back 013/14 down to the starting point - the car park at Melby Coal Mine.

The pair accepts C and D in either order: returning to the start makes the walk circular; the tower replaces an older hunting lodge.

Question 15F

Go through the ticket office to an area where there are lockers to leave heavy bags in. and where you can borrow raincoats.
Beyond that room is the exhibition.

On the source map, passing from the ticket office through room G leads to F, the exhibition. The map was visually checked.

Question 16B

There's a small bathhouse where miners used to wash after their shift underground.
You can see that in the building directly to the north of the engine house.

Building B is directly north of the engine house. The map was visually checked.

Question 17D

There's a display of early mining tools from the days before mechanisation.
You can find that in a small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary of the site.

The northern L-shaped building is D. The map was visually checked.

Question 18A

The vehicle shed, where you can find wagons of different sizes, along with some of the hi-tech cutting machines that were in use until the mine closed, is in the southwest corner of the site. and can be accessed via a covered walkway.

The southwest building with a covered walkway is A. The map was visually checked.

Question 19H

There is a field with ponies. which are always popular with children. on the north-eastern boundary of the site, not approached via a covered walkway.

The northeastern field without a covered walkway is H. The map was visually checked.

Question 20E

The other building to mention is the education centre.
The centre is connected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway.

The walkway directly from the ticket office leads north to E. The map was visually checked.

Question 21B

But I hadn't realised that unsafe food causes 021/22 more than 200 different diseases.
I'd no idea it was that many.
And speaking of diseases, I knew resistance to antibiotics is on the increase, but I didn't know why ...
.. . that it's partly because when animals are treated with antibiotics then 021/22 consumed by humans. the antibiotics get into the food chain. I had no idea about that either.

The pair accepts B and E in either order: both were surprised by the number of diseases and the food-chain effects of treating animals with antibiotics.

Question 22E

But I hadn't realised that unsafe food causes 021/22 more than 200 different diseases.
I'd no idea it was that many.
And speaking of diseases, I knew resistance to antibiotics is on the increase, but I didn't know why ...
.. . that it's partly because when animals are treated with antibiotics then 021/22 consumed by humans. the antibiotics get into the food chain. I had no idea about that either.

The pair accepts B and E in either order: both were surprised by the number of diseases and the food-chain effects of treating animals with antibiotics.

Question 23C

I thought it was really good to address a problem that's faced by so many 023/24 different groups - people with special religious rules. as well as vegetarians and vegans.
But what the 023/24 researchers succeeded in doing was to ensure that these tests were carried out at different stages in the food's journey from the producer to the consumer.

The pair accepts C and D in either order: repeated tests along the supply chain and coverage of varied dietary requirements impressed Fergus.

Question 24D

I thought it was really good to address a problem that's faced by so many 023/24 different groups - people with special religious rules. as well as vegetarians and vegans.
But what the 023/24 researchers succeeded in doing was to ensure that these tests were carried out at different stages in the food's journey from the producer to the consumer.

The pair accepts C and D in either order: repeated tests along the supply chain and coverage of varied dietary requirements impressed Fergus.

Question 25A

But we've already done quite a bit on that - but not so much on the seafood 025/26 industry. where stocks are in danger of being overexploited as a food source unless we can find ways of keeping stocks up.
Yes. that'd be a good topic.
What about sessions on the variety of food and eating habits around the 025/26 world?
Yes. I think the whole class would be interested in that.

The pair accepts A and C in either order. Both agree on sustaining seafood stocks and studying global differences in eating habits.

Question 26C

But we've already done quite a bit on that - but not so much on the seafood 025/26 industry. where stocks are in danger of being overexploited as a food source unless we can find ways of keeping stocks up.
Yes. that'd be a good topic.
What about sessions on the variety of food and eating habits around the 025/26 world?
Yes. I think the whole class would be interested in that.

The pair accepts A and C in either order. Both agree on sustaining seafood stocks and studying global differences in eating habits.

Question 27C

We made up our minds about that pretty quickly.

The initial aim was decided quickly and easily (C).

Question 28D

Then we had to do the literature review. We hadn't done one of these before so. the handout with advice for the project was very useful here.

The advice handout helped the literature review (D).

Question 29F

We really made the right choice when we finally decided to use jackfruit, even though it wasn't something that either of us had ever tasted before.

Product development involved choosing a new ingredient, jackfruit (F).

Question 30A

The product production, working out how to make the falafel, was harder than I expected because I'd never made them before.
... we just moved on and kept adapting it and in the end it turned out fine and we had a lot of fun.

Production was difficult but ultimately fun, supporting challenging but enjoyable (A).

Question 31pollution

Pollution, for example, is among the greatest threats to many popular tourist destinations.

Pollution is one of the major overtourism problems.

Question 32tax

Several cities, such as Barcelona, have responded by imposing a tax which all visitors to the city from cruise ships have to pay.

Barcelona introduced a tax for cruise visitors.

Question 33chocolate

The city was becoming like a 'theme park', with shops only catering for tourists, selling chocolate, which Belgium is famous for, and other souvenirs.

Bruges shops focused on chocolate and souvenirs.

Question 34timing

What it does now is control the timing of all cruise ship entries to the city's port.

Dubrovnik controls the timing of ship arrivals.

Question 35cost

A recent survey showed that cost is also a major factor in putting younger groups off going on a cruise.

The perceived cost discourages younger customers.

Question 36rules

And another perception is that cruises have lots of rules about what to wear and how to behave.

People assume cruises impose many rules.

Question 37diving

There's even a boxing ring on one ship, and most offer diving expeditions.

Diving is offered alongside boxing.

Question 38vegan

Vegan dishes are standard, for example.

The updated menus include vegan options.

Question 39wifi

Many people going on longer cruises also spend time working, so companies have to guarantee wifi that can be relied upon at all times.

Reliable wifi is required for communication and work.

Question 40videos

Leading cruise lines now employ top agencies to produce first rate videos for social media channels.

High-quality videos are used in social media marketing.

Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Answers & evidence

Part 1 — Part 1

Questions — Part 1

Questions 1–10

Complete the table below.

Write ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.

One-day classes at Steynford College

CourseDateCostNotes

Vietnamese food

1

£59

It provides information on the use of herbs.

There are no places at present.

Bread making

20 March

£2

There is also an extra charge for ingredients.

Participants make white bread, sourdough and 3.

Face massage

23 February

£35

The teacher trained in 4.

Bring a 5.

Candle making

6

£52

Only 7 ingredients are used.

The candles can be used as presents.

Silk painting

18 May

£8

Bring an apron or old 9.

DIY for beginners

24 February

£125

Learn how to

• use a drill, saw and 10

• put up a shelf.

Read Part 1 transcript

MAN: Hello, Steynford College external course registration, can I help you?

WOMAN: Yeah, I'm ringing to find out about one-day classes next year. I got a leaflet about them in the post but I lost it, and I understand some of the classes are filling up fast, so I might need to book quite soon if I want to go ahead.

MAN: Sure. Can you remember which one you were considering?

WOMAN: There were a few actually. I remember there was one on how to make Vietnamese food that sounded good. I think that was on the 13th of January. It cost about 60 pounds.

MAN: Yes, you're right about the date, but it's 59 pounds actually. It's a very popular class, and among other things the teacher explains how Vietnamese food includes lots of different herbs. I'm afraid that all the places are taken at present, but I can put you on the waiting list if you want?

WOMAN: No, that's OK. I'm quite interested in the bread making class. That's in March sometime, isn't it?

MAN: Yeah, the 20th of March. Would you like to register for that?

WOMAN: I'm not sure. How much is it?

MAN: The actual cost is £48 but then there's an extra charge as well as that for the ingredients - I'm not sure how much that is, no more than twenty pounds I think.

WOMAN: So what sorts of things do they make in the class?

MAN: Oh, various types of bread; I think they make white bread and then they make sourdough, that seems to be very fashionable at present, and they learn how to make pizza, which is apparently really good.

WOMAN: Well I'd definitely be interested in that, but there were also a few other classes that sounded interesting. I think there was one on face massage? I'd love to learn how to do that.

MAN: Yeah, that's on the 23rd of February and it costs just £35 for the day. The teacher's great, the type of massage done is a traditional technique used in India and she actually did her training there. The massage is meant to relax you and get rid of lines and wrinkles. You practise it on yourself so you have to take a mirror to the class, so you can see what you're doing.

WOMAN: OK.

WOMAN: And I think there was a class in candle making?

MAN: Yes that's sometime in April, I think. Let me check ... yes, it's on the 6th. It was on the 23rd of January but they had to change the date. It's just £52. That's a popular course too. I think one reason why people like it is because the candles are all made out of natural products. It's filling up fast but there's still a few places left.

WOMAN: Yes one of my friends did that class. She said the candles make really good presents. In fact she gave me one.

MAN: By the way, have you heard about the class on silk painting? That's being held on the 18th of May. You learn how to create designs on silk fabric and colour them using special dyes. Apparently people can produce beautiful artworks that way, either to put on the wall as a picture or to use for something like a scarf. It's £67 .50, which is really good value I think - there's a similar class I've seen that was £110.

WOMAN: That sounds interesting. Would I need to bring the silk?

MAN: No, the only thing is everyone has to bring something to protect their clothing, like an apron if you've got one, or a shirt that you don't use any more, because the dye can really stain your clothes.

WOMAN: Right. Then the last class I was considering was a bit different, that was on DIY for beginners. I'd like to learn how to do household repairs. Are there any places left on that?

MAN: That's on the 24th of February - yes, there are a few places. It's a bit more expensive - it's £125 - but it's a very popular class. You learn how to use an electric drill and a saw.

WOMAN: Yeah, that would be really useful, and I even need to learn how to use a hammer because I always end up hitting my fingers.

MAN: Yes, you'll do that too. And when you've learned how to use the basic tools, you do a practical job which is fixing a shelf to a wall.

WOMAN: Great. Just what I need to know. Right, well I'd like to enrol for that and also for

Part 2 — Part 2

Questions — Part 2

Questions 11–12

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Which TWO pieces of advice are given about the Marsden Coastal Walk?

Questions 13–14

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Which TWO things are said about the Melby Heritage Walk?

Questions 15–20

Label the map below.

Write the correct letter, A–I, next to Questions 15–20.

Melby Coal Mine map with labelled locations A to I

15 Exhibition

16 Baths

17 Tools

18 Vehicles

19 Ponies

20 Education centre

Read Part 2 transcript

Here is some information about history and nature walks in the region. They can be completed in less than a day and also be combined with a visit to Melby, a former coal mine now open to the public. The Marsden Coastal Walk is suitable for all the family as there are no strenuous climbs. The route begins at Marsden harbour, where there are hourly ferries to and from the beautiful Hooker Island, a great place for fishing. The walk covers part of the coastal path trail. As there are clear signposts all along the way, you don't even need to take a map with 011/12 YQJJ• At one point, the route goes inland slightly and passes a castle built in the 1400s near to a now-vanished market town. The castle's now just a pile of stones but it's a great place 011/12 to take photos, and fascinating information boards show what it once looked like. If you set off early, you can be back in time for midday. The Melby Heritage Walk is a great place to take photos, especially of the night sky. At certain times of the year, people come here from far and wide. They climb to the top of the valley and take pictures of the stars. In the daytime, it's completely different. As you hike through the dense woods in the valley bottom, the only things you'll hear are the sound of your own footsteps. At the highest point, you can stop to take in the views, and those with lots of energy can climb the tower that's situated where there was once a seventeenth 013/14 century hunting lodge. The route continues along the tops of the hills and brings you back 013/14 down to the starting point - the car park at Melby Coal Mine. Melby Coal Mine has been open to the public for twenty years and has won awards for its visitor experience. Many of the buildings around the mine are still standing and have been converted into display areas. Firstly, there's an exhibition showing the history of the mine, with many original black and white photos. To see that, you go from the car park, via a covered walkway to the Main Visitor Centre. Go through the ticket office to an area where there are lockers to leave heavy bags in. and where you can borrow raincoats. Beyond that room is the exhibition. There's a small bathhouse where miners used to wash after their shift underground. You can see that in the building directly to the north of the engine house. The boiler has gone from there now, but there are lines of tin baths on the stone floor. There's a display of early mining tools from the days before mechanisation. You can find that in a small L-shaped building in the middle of the northern boundary of the site. It's incredible to think how miners were able to use hand implements to cut through rock. The vehicle shed, where you can find wagons of different sizes, along with some of the hi-tech cutting machines that were in use until the mine closed, is in the southwest corner of the site. and can be accessed via a covered walkway. There is a field with ponies. which are always popular with children. on the north-eastern boundary of the site, not approached via a covered walkway. The other building to mention is the education centre. This is where school groups go when they visit the mine, but it's also accessible to the public as it contains a library and small gift shop. The centre is connected to the ticket office via a short section of covered walkway.

Part 3 — Part 3

Questions — Part 3

Questions 21–22

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Which TWO facts in the sessions on food safety were new information for Nadia and Fergus?

Questions 23–24

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Which TWO features of a project aiming to prevent food fraud impressed Fergus?

Questions 25–26

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Which TWO topics do both students recommend should be included in the course?

Questions 27–30

Complete the flow-chart below.

Choose FOUR answers from the box and write the correct letter, A–F, next to Questions 27–30.

A This was challenging but enjoyable.

B This led to some disagreement.

C This was easy to decide on.

D This was helped by the guidelines provided.

E This seemed like an unnecessary stage.

F This involved selecting a new ingredient.

Student project: developing a new food product

27 Initial aim ↓

28 Literature review ↓

29 Product development ↓

30 Product production

Read Part 3 transcript

TUTOR: Thanks for coming along, Nadia and Fergus. So this is a chance for you to give us some feedback about different aspects of your course. What would you like to begin with?

NADIA: I've enjoyed the sessions on food safety. There was some information there that I found really surprising, although some was stuff I knew already, like the rise in rates of obesity.

FERGUS: Yeah, that's been in the news a lot. But I hadn't realised that unsafe food causes 021/22 more than 200 different diseases.

NADIA: No. I'd no idea it was that many. And speaking of diseases, I knew resistance to antibiotics is on the increase, but I didn't know why ...

FERGUS: .. . that it's partly because when animals are treated with antibiotics then 021/22 consumed by humans. the antibiotics get into the food chain. I had no idea about that either.

NADIA: Then the sessions provided a lot of information about plastic pollution from food packaging in the ocean, but I think that most of us were already aware of that.

FERGUS: Yeah. But I thought we could have done more on how much food is thrown away unnecessarily through fear of it being out of date, that was only mentioned in passing.

TUTOR: OK, I'll bear that in mind. What did you think about the sessions from visiting lecturers, Fergus?

FERGUS: For me the most interesting one was about that project to prevent companies giving incorrect information to consumers about food.

TUTOR: Ah, food fraud, yes.

FERGUS: I thought it was really good to address a problem that's faced by so many 023/24 different groups - people with special religious rules. as well as vegetarians and vegans.

NADIA: And those with allergies.

FERGUS: Yeah. And another thing, we've had effective ways of analysing DNA for some time now and these can easily be applied to analysing food. But what the 023/24 researchers succeeded in doing was to ensure that these tests were carried out at different stages in the food's journey from the producer to the consumer.

NADIA: So they knew that the food actually came from the place it was supposed to, and had the ingredients it was meant to.

FERGUS: Exactly. So customers can be confident about what they buy.

NADIA: And the researchers had a good system for publicising their findings too.

FERGUS: Well, I thought there were some problems with that, actually.

TUTOR: OK. And do you have any recommendations for new topics that we could include in the course?

NADIA: Well, I'm interested in how crop yields can be increased without damaging the environment.

FERGUS: But we've already done quite a bit on that - but not so much on the seafood 025/26 industry. where stocks are in danger of being overexploited as a food source unless we can find ways of keeping stocks up.

NADIA: Yes. that'd be a good topic. And I'm interested in the idea of a personalised approach to diet, now we have the technology to analyse exactly what individuals need.

FERGUS: That sounds more like a medical topic than food science.

NADIA: OK. What about sessions on the variety of food and eating habits around the 025/26 world? That's very relevant nowadays.

FERGUS: Yes. I think the whole class would be interested in that.

NADIA: Then there's technological stuff. things like 3D printing of food and smart packaging.

FERGUS: Mmm - maybe too specialist.

TUTOR: Now, I'm particularly interested in your project - the one where you developed a new food product. So talk me through the stages ... first you had to decide on your initial aim.

FERGUS: We decided we wanted to create something people could eat on the go rather than in a restaurant.

NADIA: Yeah so we chose falafel, which was originally a Middle Eastern snack.

FERGUS: We made up our minds about that pretty quickly. I know some students found it a lot harder to choose, and wasted a lot of time.

NADIA: Then we had to do the literature review. We hadn't done one of these before so. the handout with advice for the project was very useful here.

FERGUS: Yes. especially the advice on how to present the information. Then product development, actually deciding what we'd use to make the falafel, and for me the interesting thing about that was that we wanted it to be something a bit different from an ordinary falafel.

NADIA: We really made the right choice when we finally decided to use jackfruit, even though it wasn't something that either of us had ever tasted before.

FERGUS: Yeah, like the name tells you, it's a fruit but actually it's really good in savoury dishes. The product production, working out how to make the falafel, was harder than I expected because I'd never made them before.

NADIA: It was mostly trial and error. We started off with the basic recipe and then experimented and when it went wrong ...

FERGUS: .. . which it did a lot of the time ...

NADIA: ... we just moved on and kept adapting it and in the end it turned out fine and we had a lot of fun.

FERGUS: We did!

TUTOR: Thank you. Well, your project was a very good ....

Part 4 — Part 4

Questions — Part 4

Questions 31–40

Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Challenges facing the cruise ship industry

Problems with overtourism

• 31 is one of the worst problems.

• A tourist 32 is being introduced in some cities to reduce numbers, e.g. Barcelona.

• Bruges: action was taken to limit day trips from the nearby port because the city was becoming a ‘theme park’ (e.g. many shops were only stocking 33 and souvenirs).

• Dubrovnik: limits the number of tourists by managing the 34 of cruise ship arrivals.

Problems of perception

• Cruises are generally associated with the elderly.

• There is an assumption about the 35 of cruises.

• People think there may be too many 36.

Solutions

Cruise lines are attracting younger customers by:

• becoming more sustainable e.g. using hybrid engines.

• having a wide range of activities e.g. boxing, 37 and well-being programmes.

• offering a diverse selection of food including 38 options.

• providing reliable 39.

• improving marketing on social media with high quality 40.

Read Part 4 transcript

For my presentation today I'm going to talk about some of the issues facing the cruise ship industry and then some ways these can be addressed. The cruise ship industry has partly been responsible for the effects of overtourism in recent decades. Overtourism occurs in places where excessive numbers of tourists cause significant problems. Pollution, for example, is among the greatest threats to many popular tourist destinations. Of course, for many places it's a difficult balance to achieve. They want to promote their city or island as a desirable tourist destination, but at the same time, are unable to cope with thousands of cruise ship passengers on a daily basis. The trouble is, excessive tourism is destroying the beauty spots and places of interest that people come to visit. Several cities, such as Barcelona, have responded by imposing a tax which all visitors to the city from cruise ships have to pay. But as it's only a couple of euros, many green campaigners think it won't deter enough people to make any difference. Bruges is another city which became impossible to navigate at times because of the huge numbers of cruise passengers arriving on day trips from the port of Zeebrugge. The city was becoming like a 'theme park', with shops only catering for tourists, selling chocolate, which Belgium is famous for, and other souvenirs. The local council took action to limit cruise passengers to a more manageable level. Dubrovnik had to limit the numbers of cruise ships after it became extremely popular as a cruise ship destination when it featured in a hugely successful TV series. What it does now is control the timing of all cruise ship entries to the city's port. However, many people feel this measure does not go far enough. Cruise ships may be unpopular in some of their destinations but they also have an image problem. They've always been perceived as a safe holiday for the elderly, with not much on offer for families or young couples. A recent survey showed that cost is also a major factor in putting younger groups off going on a cruise. But what they don't realise is that compared to other types of package holidays, cruises can actually be good value, as all activities and drinks are often included. And another perception is that cruises have lots of rules about what to wear and how to behave. But these days, most cruises are no longer very formal and behind the times. So what solutions are there for cruise lines to overcome some of these problems? How can they appeal to younger customers? Well one selling point is that cruise ships are becoming more sustainable. New ships are built with hybrid engines with large batteries which means ships do not have to keep their engines running while docked. Cruise lines are also designing ships specially for those in the age range of 21 to 45. The decor in these feels contemporary and there are a range of activities on board that you wouldn't find on a more traditional cruise. There's even a boxing ring on one ship, and most offer diving expeditions. But there's also a huge focus on well-being with a variety of sessions of different kinds. Food is always a very important part of any cruise and cruise ships have had to radically update their menus to suit the tastes of their younger customers. Vegan dishes are standard, for example. The restaurants on board have also gone paperless with menus available on screen. Unlike older generations who went on cruises largely to get away from everything, younger people expect to be able to keep in touch with friends and family. Many people going on longer cruises also spend time working, so companies have to guarantee wifi that can be relied upon at all times. My grandparents used to love looking through cruise brochures, even when they weren't planning on going on a cruise. Until very recently TV ads for cruises always felt dated and aimed at retirees. Cruise lines have been slow to adopt the power of social media but that's all changing. Leading cruise lines now employ top agencies to produce first rate videos for social media channels. It will be interesting to see whether ...

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