Norwegian Cruise Line hikes prices.
Norwegian Cruise Line announced that due to increased year-to-date booking volumes it will raise fares up to 7% fleet-wide as of April 2. The 10-ship line cited strong interest in particular in its new ship, the Norwegian Epic, debuting in June and for the ‘Pride of America’, its Hawaii-based ship.
“Our first quarter Wave season promotion definitely persuaded consumers to book a Norwegian cruise vacation as we saw heavy call volumes translating to exceptional bookings,” Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Kevin Sheehan says in a statement.
Norwegian joins a growing list of cruise companies hiking prices as business rebounds from the downturn of 2009. The announcement comes just weeks after industry giant Carnival announced plans for its own across-the-board price hike of up to 5%, effective March 22. Like Norwegian, Carnival cited soaring bookings.
The announcement of a price increase should motivate the few waiting for last minute specials. They are not going to materialize. Instead prices will be higher later this year because of the lack of supply in cabins.
