Cruise line operators are on watch as some summer pricing is adjusted lower

Cruise line operators Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE:NCLH), Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL), and Viking Holdings (NYSE:VIK) have lowered prices on some summer itineraries, according to media reports and updates from travel agencies.

The cruise operators were noted to be responding to some gaps in their summer bookings, due in part to more cruises heading to the popular Caribbean and Alaskan routes due to the disruption around the Red Sea.

Tripadvisor’s (TRIP) Cruise Critic website showed Royal Caribbean’s seven-day itinerary prices to the Caribbean and Bermuda for June are down 21% year-over-year as of May, while prices for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Carnival itineraries are both down at a double-digit rate from a year ago. Goldman Sachs also put out data recently that showed how the average cruise ticket price has lagged inflation indexes and lodging average daily rates over a long period of time.

Analysts still think booking demand is strong in general, but have tweaked Q2 and Q3 estimates to account for the new pricing information.

On a year-to-date and 52-week basis, Royal Caribbean (RCL) has led the cruise line sector. Meanwhile, Viking Holdings (VIK) has come out of the dock strong after its IPO and is trading more than 30% higher than its IPO pricing level.