Smoother sailing this winter for the cruise industry?
Smoother sailing this winter for the cruise industry?
Cruise company Royal Caribbean releases quarterly earnings today. Now that travel to the U.S. is reopening for vaccinated international travelers, what’s in store for the cruise industry this winter season?
The winter cruise season is a lot about the Caribbean, said Infinity Research analyst Assia Georgieva.
And, she said, ships are ready for vaccinated passengers.
“So the winter season will probably be a decent season. Not all the ships will be sailing, not all the passengers that we usually would get would be onboard. But it will be a good beginning,” she said.
Still, Georgieva said, it might be a while until we see the impact of lifted restrictions on international travelers.
“Because people booked cruise vacations well in advance. So it’s not a last minute decision,” she said.
And besides booking the cruise, people have to book flights, said Cornell travel analytics professor Chris Anderson.
“I think in the short term, we’re probably not going to see a massive spike in cruise demand just because of the delay with, you know, getting reasonable airfares,” he said.
He said once airlines get back up to capacity, then cruises might benefit.
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