As Wave Season Concludes, Cruise Lines Continue to Celebrate Booking Wins

As cruising’s wave season (January – March) came to a close for 2024, cruise lines are taking stock of the quarter’s bookings. Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and several others have already reported record successes during this period, and now other lines are chiming in with their own sales successes.

Ocean Cruise Highlights: Carnival Corporation Brands, Explora Journeys and HX

As March came to a close, Carnival Corporation announced that reservation numbers, revenue and total customer deposits during the wave season reached an all-time high, even with significantly higher prices year-over-year. Carnival Corporation brands include AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises (Australia), P&O Cruises (U.K.), Princess Cruises and Seabourn. 

“This has been a fantastic start to the year,” said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “We delivered another strong quarter that outperformed guidance on every measure, while concluding a monumental wave season that achieved all-time high booking volumes at considerably higher prices.”

Overall, the company’s booked position for the rest of the year remains the best on record, thanks to pricing and occupancy being higher than in 2023.

For the Cunard brand specifically, the line booked more guests during January than any equivalent period in the last decade, according to a brand spokesperson. In North America, Cunard has booked 28% more guests than any other equivalent period in a decade, and there was a 27% increase year-over-year with Queen Mary 2’s transatlantic crossings, Queen Anne U.K. sailings and Queen Victoria fly voyages.

“We are enjoying a phenomenal wave season with strength across all major deployments and brands,” Weinstein said. “Even with less inventory available for the remainder of the year, booking volumes hit an all-time high, driven by demand for 2025 sailings and beyond. Our brands have demonstrated continued success creating demand that outstrips available capacity, translating into higher prices (in constant currency) and a further elongation in the booking curve.” 

Newcomer Explora Journeys is another line that’s moving the dial during this past three months, said Chris Austin, chief sales officer for the line.

"During wave season, enticing deals consistently generate excitement not only for Explora Journeys, but also for the entire cruise industry,” he said. “The Total Luxury Offer has provided a wonderful opportunity for travel advisors to show their support for Explora Journeys, further building on the momentum established since the debut of Explora I in August 2023."

Besides promotions — The Total Luxury Offer runs through the end of April — Austin says the new brand’s fresh approach is resonating with customers during its first full year of operations.

“We encourage all advisors to consider seizing this opportunity,” he added. “Now is the perfect time to share our unique story, videos and testimonials with their clients. Our hosts are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to welcome their clients on future journeys this spring, summer and beyond.”

HX, formerly Hurtigruten Expeditions, also saw a bookings boost in January and February, including within the trade. Following its success from Black Friday in November 2023 — when the line saw a 70% increase in sales compared to November 2022, and a 66% surge over its previous monthly record — the brand has concluded that many travelers who made reservations during wave season are seeking to plan farther ahead.

RELATED: Hurtigruten Expeditions Rebrands to ‘HX’

River Cruise Success: Avalon Waterways and American Cruise Lines

It’s not just ocean cruises that are selling in droves. River cruises — both internationally and domestically — are making headway too.

“Avalon Waterways is enjoying record sales overall for 2024,” said Steve Born, chief marketing officer for the Globus family of brands, which includes Avalon. “Our record pace accelerated during this wave season, as more and more advisors look to Avalon as an alternative to more traditional luxury cruises."

Born said that it was this very pace that prompted the river company to increase capacity for November sailings and add more “festive” cruises. 

“Also, 2025 sales are off to an even better start over this time last year,” he said.

American Cruise Lines (ACL), meanwhile, has also witnessed a record-breaking wave season in 2024 for domestic cruises.

“We have 19 small ships and riverboats sailing across the country in 2024, plus more boats and new itineraries coming in late 2024 and 2025,” said Alexa Paolella, manager of public relations for ACL. “American is growing and growing, and U.S. river cruising is becoming bigger than ever before, in part because American has re-invented the market in the U.S. by also offering small ships that cruise coastal itineraries just like the river cruises."

AmaWaterways also saw record sales at the start of the year, as previously reported.