Cruise prices have seen an increase of over 40%
You would have to do a bit more number crunching if you want to comfortably afford a cruise in the coming months. To illustrate, if you want to hop on a five-night voyage to the Caribbean over the holiday season, you would have to fork over $736, which is a 37% bump from 2022 prices and a 43% hike from 2019 prices, according to a report from Cruise Critic, as reviewed by CNBC.
It’s not just ticket prices that are seeing an increase, but amenities and gratuities, too. Royal Caribbean raised the prices for some of its dishes at one of its restaurants by 40%, while Carnival raised gratuities for its staterooms to $16 per person per day. Celebrity Cruises followed suit and raised theirs to as much as $18.50 per person per day. What’s more, Carnival drew ire from passengers when it announced that it was considering charging fuel surcharges to accommodate the rising costs of oil.
Businesses raising their prices isn’t novel a concept; but in the cruising industry, the skyrocketing costs are driven by demand. The more people continue to book cruises without balking at these rates, the more cruise lines will be incentivized to impose more hikes. “They’re raising prices naturally — fuel or no fuel, the demand is there for them to be raising prices,” C. Patrick Scholes noted.
When will it all return to normal?
If you’re still hoping that cruise prices will return to their summer 2022 rates, or at least be low enough to be easily justifiable, don’t hold your breath. Carnival Corp CEO Josh Weinstein said in an earnings call that the company’s ultimate goal is to reduce cruising’s pricing disparity against land-based travel options. “(We are) working hard to close the outrageous and unwarranted 25% to 50% value gap to land-based offerings over time,” he declared (via Reuters). “We’re looking at growth with respect to price increases as we get to 2024, 2025, and 2026.”
Additionally, many cruise lines are still trying to recover from the debt they incurred over the pandemic, so prices may not let up any time soon. “All these companies are highly aware of how much debt they need to pay down,” C. Patrick Scholes told USA Today. “I would expect just that the longer you wait here to book, the more (the) price is going to go up.”
But cruise operators are reportedly doing what they can to make their guests’ spending worthwhile. Royal Caribbean Group CFO Naftali Holtz shared with the outlet that they are actively improving their facilities to enhance the guest experience. “We have just elevated and evolved the product … by bringing new ships and new experiences to them, and you can see that resonating,” he said.
