Norwegian Cruise Line has reported a “record” first half of the year, announcing each month has been the best in the company’s history.
Speaking during a quarterly financial results call on August 1, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings president and chief executive Harry Sommer said the company’s largest brand has had a “strong” first six months of 2023 and he expects that momentum to continue into 2024.
“When we look at bookings for this year for our largest brand, Norwegian Cruise Line, every month has been a record month in terms of new booking volumes,” said Sommer.
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“January was the best January in the history of the company, February was the best February, and so on through to July which just ended and was the best July in the history of the company and the second best booking month of the year which is a little bit odd because usually July and August are slower due to people being on vacation.
“Every month continues to be good; we continue to make our proposition a little bit better than the quarter before, and I don’t anticipate any huge changes for 2024.
“I think the numbers you see today are the numbers we would expect to improve on going into 2024.”
Sommer went on to say one of the reasons for the line’s success in the first half of the year is increased pre-cruise spend by passengers, which he said is up 75% compared to 2019.
“Our efforts to enhance our market leading bundle offering and increased quality touchpoints with our guests starting from the time of booking and continuing throughout their cruise journey are clearly bearing fruit,” he said.
“In fact, pre-sold revenue on a per passenger basis for the second quarter of 2023 was over 75% higher than in 2019, an important contributor to our onboard revenue strength as these guests tend to spend more overall throughout their journey than guests who do not pre-book on board activities.”