NCLH reports ‘short-lived choppiness’ in European third-quarter bookings

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings reported “choppiness” in bookings throughout April, but its president insisted there has been “a return to normality”.

In its latest earnings call the group, which comprises Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Sea Cruises, said third-quarter (July to September) European itineraries were “a challenge” during that time.

President and chief executive officer Harry Sommer said: “There is perhaps some hesitancy for Americans to do long-haul trips in this environment, but I’m pleased to say that we’ve already seen return to normality this week from a booking and pricing perspective which is going to equal what we were doing towards the end of March.

“It’s nice to see this choppiness was relatively short-lived but we’re not assuming any miracle or hockey stick in the back half of the year.”

While he said the “challenge” with itineraries in the third quarter may continue, the group would maintain a focus on “price over occupancy” to operate from “a position of strength” when demand returned to normal.

He maintained advanced ticket sales were up 3% and other key indicators such as cancellation rate, cruise-next sales and onboard revenue “remained steady” during the first quarter and in the first weeks of April, with nearly all cruises for the second quarter sold.

Sommer added: “There’s a difference between bookings and revenue, so we’ve seen two to three weeks of challenging bookings, but you can hear my commentary loud and clear that we have maintained a 4.6 to 4.7% price increase year over year, compared to the back half of last year which was spectacular from a pricing perspective with record price increases.

“We think it’s very strong and compares well to the competitive set.”

He added the line was “optimistic” for the future and said it had made changes to deployment for 2026 to adapt to consumer behaviour.

Deployment next year will be “less reliant” on Europe compared to this year, with shorter itineraries of seven days compared to nine or 10, which he expected to benefit the line by shortening the booking curve, lowering the price point and enabling a more comprehensive pre and post-hotel stay program.

NCLH Caribbean deployment is also higher for the fourth quarter this year than the same period last year, with shorter itineraries of three, four and seven days.