MIAMI BEACH, Florida — “The cruise industry is booming as new cruise ships are being built and quickly selling out as soon as they hit the waters,” according to Bill Jones, President of Global Textile Marketing Exchange Inc., an important importer of fabrics for the cruise trade. Along with Luca Pascolini, President of Sangiorgio Export, the pair capitalized on the booming cruise ship trade with a private sea voyage coinciding with the Seatrade Show in Ft. Lauderdale in March. Jones’ Black & White Party Sunset Cruise departed from the Sea isle Marina in Miami sailing past the stunning downtown Miami skyline and even catching a glimpse of the electrifying Ultra music festival with the sun setting in the background. The event, hosted a variety of design, fabrics and furnishings professionals For some of the world’s leading cruise lines including Carnival and Royal Caribbean. An open cocktail bar, hors d’oeuvres and plenty of good music kept the party going as the boat made its way around the peaceful Biscayne Bay waters. As the size of the Cruise ships grow so do their demand for materials including fabric and furnishings of course. “Design is no doubt an integral part of a cruise ships construction,” said a senior buyer at Royal Caribbean. She said, “at times this can also prove to be challenging. When refurbishing a ship as many of the original fabrics have either been discontinued or no longer carried by the suppliers. This requires the design team to improvise while maintaining the ships’ original design theme.” Challenging or not, the ships continue to be built and the industry shows no signs of slowing down. This cruise was the second hosted by Bill Jones and Luca Pascolini and they hope to make it annual event. Judging by the way the cruise industry is growing the pair may just need a bigger boat for next year’s event.