Norwegian Cruise Line faces troubling trend
Recent cruise booking patterns point to a new hesitancy among Americans about traveling to one popular summer vacation region.
While Royal Caribbean Group just reported that its cruise bookings haven’t slowed down and are even outpacing last year’s, despite economic uncertainty, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is navigating some “choppiness.”
Although the company’s CEO Harry Sommer remains optimistic about long-term growth, current economic turbulence is presenting some booking challenges for all three of Norwegian's cruise brands — Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Related: Royal Caribbean cancels another stop at key port, offers credit
During the company’s Q1 earnings call on April 30, Sommer pointed to one concerning trend in cruise traveler behavior as the reason for a softening in bookings that the company experienced in the first part of April.
Economic uncertainty, and maybe some anxiety about the current political environment, seem to be leading more Americans to hold off on booking international travel to one key region where Norwegian, Oceania, and Regent cruise ships have a significant presence during the summer season.
As Sommer answered questions about recent booking inconsistencies the company has experienced, he revealed that the challenge lies mainly with Europe itineraries sailing in July, August, and September 2025.
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Norwegian Cruise Line sees slowdown in Europe cruise bookings
“In terms of customer behavior, listen, clearly we saw a little bit of choppiness, that’s what we’ve referred to it as, in the first part of April, mostly related to our Q3 itineraries, mostly related to our European Q3 itineraries, to be as clear as possible, with perhaps some hesitancy for Americans to do long-haul trips during this environment,” Sommer explained.
The booking slowdown was specifically linked to North American customers and thought to be related to economic uncertainty. But it’s possible that a perceived increase in anti-American sentiment could also factor into U.S. cruisers’ decisions not to book European cruises this summer.
Related: Norwegian Cruise Line CEO shares outlook on U.S.-built ships
Sommer clarified that the cruise line is already seeing overall bookings pick up after the early April choppiness, but he noted that the challenge with Q3 Europe itineraries may continue.
At this point in time, Norwegian is not seeing booking challenges for 2026 Europe cruise itineraries. Sommer also pointed out that the company shifted its deployment strategy for 2026 to be “a little bit less reliant on Europe in ’26 versus ’25” and to offer more shorter Europe itineraries, which lowers the Europe cruise price point for passengers.
Sommer noted, however, that even at higher cruise price points, the company’s luxury brands aren’t really experiencing challenges any greater than Norwegian Cruise Line's when it comes to Q3 Europe itineraries.
Booking patterns consistent across Norwegian cruise brands
“I think all three brands are seeing pretty much the same booking patterns, some pressure on Q3 Europe, which perhaps is a slightly larger percentage of Oceania and Regent itineraries than it is for NCL, but really just limited to that,” he explained.
The company continues to see strong bookings for close-to-home cruises, winter itineraries, and even exotic winter itineraries, but Europe has become an “Achilles heel.”
“We’re very happy with the winter itineraries, even the winter exotic itineraries are doing very good for places like Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, etc., and the world cruise on the luxury brand, and ’26 is looking very well from a booking perspective as well, so no weakness luxury versus NCL. They all seem to be doing well, and all just seem to have this one Achilles heel,” Sommer said.
Related: Norwegian Cruise Line quietly stops sailing in one popular region
Sommer isn’t worried enough about that Achilles heel to make significant price cuts, however. The company did a small amount of close-in discounting for Q3 around problem areas of Europe, but is focused on maintaining price integrity.
“I can make bookings happen by lowering prices. When you look at our booking trends versus perhaps others, I think that’s just something to think about, not that I’m suggesting anything else is happening. I’m just saying that we are super focused on price, and if there’s two or three slower weeks in bookings that we can maintain price, we’re going to do it and we’re going to continue doing that in order to set us up for a foundation for a strong future,” Sommer emphasized.
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