Good news has been slow to come for the cruise industry. Yes, cruises resumed in July 2021 from U.S. ports after being stopped for more than a year, but normal has been slow to return.
Now, all the major cruise lines that sail from U.S. ports, which include Royal Caribbean International (RCL), Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) have returned to their ships being able to accommodate full passenger loads. Being able to sail with full ships and actually sailing at capacity requires that demand be there.
And while all three cruise lines have delivered positive statements when it comes to demand, pricing for many sailings has been below historical averages. Now, both Royal Caribbean and Carnival executives have also noted that onboard spending has increased (meaning that revenue may equal out) but demand drives the entire industry.
Now, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has stopped tracking covid onboard cruise ships. This comes after the federal agency dropped mask mandates onboard. The move clears the way for cruise lines to drop pre-cruise covid testing (which some cruise lines, but not the big three have done) and maybe to eventually loosen or drop vaccine requirements.
Cruising, aside from the vaccine requirements, masked crew, and pre-cruise testing looks a lot like it did before the pandemic and a new survey suggests that demand may rebound.
Image source: Daniel Kline, TheStreet
Cruise Customers Want to Return
A new survey from Cruiseline.com and Shipmate showed that the vast majority of those asked -- admittedly people who are members of these cruise-focused brands -- intend to cruise relatively soon.
"Of the travelers participating in this survey, 91.4% reported they plan to take a cruise within the next year, 2.5% said they would not cruise in the next year, and 6.1% are currently undecided if they will cruise in the next year," the survey showed.
Most of the people surveyed (69%) said they have been on seven or more previous sailings while another 17% had sailed four-to-six times, and 8% had taken two-to-three sailings. That's a sort of biased group, but it makes the most sense that experienced cruisers will return before new customers opt to cruise.
“The numbers from our survey clearly show that travelers are feeling comfortable in cruising once again and are taking the next steps of researching and booking upcoming voyages,” said Cruiseline.com General Manager Jamie Cash. “Despite many obstacles, the cruise industry has come a long way in the last year, and this data provided by our community shows that the consumer demand for cruising is strong.”
This News Is Especially Good for Carnival, Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Norwegian are all mass-market family-friendly cruise lines. They need a lot of people to be willing to cruise in order to return to profitability and the survey results show that their customers are ready to come back.
"Over 60% of all participants have reported previously cruising with Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, over 40% have sailed with Norwegian Cruise Line, and over 30% with Princess Cruises. 89% of participants have cruised in the Caribbean region, with other previously-cruised destinations being Alaska, Pacific Coast (Mexico), and Europe," the report stated.
The survey also showed that experienced cruisers appear ready to come back:
- Over 34% of participants will cruise within the next two to four months.
- 30% will cruise in the next five to twelve months, and under 30% have cruises booked within the next 60 days.
- 46% of these travelers have between two and four upcoming sailings booked.
Demand also appears to be pretty equally split with 37.9% saying they will sail with Carnival Cruise Line, 35.9% with Royal Caribbean International, 21.45% with Norwegian Cruise Line, 17.5% with Celebrity Cruises (a Royal Caribbean brand), and 17% with Princess Cruises (a Carnival brand).
