After nearly collapsing during COVID, it’s now an amenities arms race for the cruise industry
Rock climbing? Ice skating? Roller coasters? Sunning on a private island? Cruise ships are looking for creative — and luxurious — ways to court new customers.
The world’s largest cruise company, Carnival, announces its quarterly earnings Tuesday.
Four years ago, the pandemic all but shut down the cruise industry, and operators incurred huge debt just to maintain their mothballed fleets. But the industry has bounced back and then some; passenger numbers last year exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
When it comes to vacationers, you’ve got your national park people, you’ve got your museum lovers. And then, said Cornell’s Rob Kwortnik, you’ve got your cruisers.
“Cruise fanatics are — they’re a breed unto themselves. They absolutely love the experience,” he said.
And they’re reliable customers who helped the industry set sail after the COVID shutdowns. But it’s not the diehards who are driving the near-record growth today, Kwortnik noted.
“The new-to-cruise is the lifeblood of the industry, and so there’s always efforts to try to persuade someone who’s a land-based vacationer to take a cruise,” he said.
If you’re into rock climbing, ice skating or riding roller coasters, you can do all those things on a boat. And this arms race of amenities is even spilling over onto land, according to Assia Georgieva of Infinity Research.
“In addition to the actual ships, private islands have been really important,” she said.
That’s right: private islands. Georgieva said that cruise companies are investing more and more in their own ports of call. So, instead of docking in a city to soak up local culture and food, “you can experience a beach club. You can go jet skiing, water slides that I just absolutely love,” she said. “I’m probably the oldest person that goes up there with all the kids.”
These all-inclusive experiences seem to be attracting extended families. “So now we’re having three generations going on a cruise ship,” said Georgieva.
Including some who may have never cruised before.