US. Industry trade group Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) predicts that around 11.7 million people will book with its members’ lines this year, according to a report in the Miami Herald.
CLIA represents 19 cruise lines, including Carnival’s Carnival line, Holland America and Windstar lines, Royal Caribbean’s Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity lines, Disney Cruise Lines and Star Cruises Norwegian Cruise Line.
That total would translate into a +4.5% rise over the 11.2 million cruisers in 2005 – the smallest yeraly increase since 2001, when passenger traffic rose by less than +1%.
The cruise lines themselves have implemented a range of measures to help stimulate demand, such as increasing the number and range of departure ports. There will also be new vessels, including Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas, which will be the world’s largest passenger ship when it commences cruising in May.
”We’re seeing encouraging signs that pricing and demand reached a good balance in 2005,” commented Andy Stuart, Chairman of the trade group and a Vice President of Norwegian Cruise Line parent company NCL Corp.
Carnival’s profits have exceeded analysts’ estimates in the past five quarters as revenue from onboard activities such as gourmet dining rooms and spa treatments have helped compensate for rising fuel costs, noted the report. (According to Merrill Lynch analyst David Anders, prices for marine gas oil and intermediate fuel oil were up +23% and +72% up, in December versus the previous year.)
Royal Caribbean’s profits have also exceeded estimates in the past three quarters.
Passenger demand should allow cruise lines to raise ticket prices, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kent’s December report. A CLIA survey of 850 travel agents has revealed that about 73% of cruises are booked six months or more in advance.
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