Ocean cruise bookings for 2021 have reached prepandemic levels with tourists keen to return to sea making reservations. The pandemic is still disrupting voyages this year so tourists are moving their plans to next year - resulting in better-than-expected reservations.
The increase in advance bookings for 2021 has given the industry hope for an eventual recovery, cruise companies and travel agencies are reporting.
Both Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group said 2021 bookings had reached "historical ranges." Norwegian Cruise Line's chief executive officer Frank Del Rio said he was surprised by demand.
Royal Caribbean's chief financial officer Jason Liberty said in an earnings call that the numbers were very encouraging. The volume of new bookings has more than doubled since the first eight weeks of the suspension of international cruises, he said.
Bookings throughout the industry are a surprise given that there has been little to no marketing in the past few quarters, Royal Caribbean's Liberty said. With cruises halted most companies stopped marketing and advertising to reduce costs.
Royal Caribbean said about 60 percent of reservations received for 2021 were new. The others were from customers who had cruises canceled and those given cruise credits. As of August Norwegian had issued cash refunds to more than 60 percent of customers whose cruises were canceled. The remainder were given credits with an added 25 percent on top of what they paid.
International travel agencies confirmed the resurgence. Florida-based Cruise Planners said it had received many new advanced bookings. More than 50 percent of its bookings are from new customers rather than those with credits, it said.
Cruise operators and travel agencies attributed the increase in new bookings to pent-up demand. Norwegian also attributes part of the trend to "very loyal" customers eager to go cruising again.
