The demand for travel in the cruise industry is palpable. As evidenced by Carnival Cruise Line’s latest booking numbers on Cyber Monday this year, people are ready to cruise.
Compared to Cyber Monday in 2019, bookings were 50% higher this year for the cruise line.
2019 is a good year for comparison since it was at the height of cruise travel, before the entire industry was shutdown for the better part of 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
These numbers are also aided by the fact that the cruise line has a greater capacity for passengers than it did in 2019.
As a cruise line with 24 ships, Carnival is well-positioned to offer a variety of cruise vacations to travelers ready for a getaway.
Two cruise ships were introduced into the fleet in November alone, with Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Celebration. 3 more ships are scheduled to be added to Carnival’s fleet over the next 18-months
“The Cyber Monday sale activity showed consumer demand across the fleet, and we were particularly pleased with the booking activity for Carnival Venezia’s new year-round service from New York, and our new extended six-month program for Carnival Magic out of Norfolk,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Our very successful naming ceremony for Carnival Celebration on November 20 and all the media coverage it generated clearly kept Carnival top of mind as vacationers got started on their holiday shopping yesterday.”
Carnival was the first major cruise line to have its entire fleet back in operation. Earlier this year the company stated that “the one-week period of March 28-April 3 was its busiest booking week in the company’s history.”
After experiencing a difficult couple of years, the cruise industry is hopeful that numbers like this could be a harbinger of better times, not just for the companies but for people who are ready to get out and explore the world.
