Carnival Cruise Line will just barely be the largest brand in the North American by 2025, based on new ship orders and announced deployments, according to the 2016-2017 Cruise Industry News Annual Report. The Carnival brand will have an estimated market share of 24.8 percent, compared to 24.3 percent for Royal Caribbean International. Ten years ago, Carnival had more than 28 percent.
The shift is partially due to ship deployment and a more aggressive newbuilding program by the Royal Caribbean brand.
In the Carnival fleet, Princess Cruises has also seen a shift to an estimated 9.1 market share in North America this year, from 12.1 percent 10 years ago, with more ships deployed to other sources markets, such as Australia, China and the UK. Pending deployment of its recent newbuild order, Princess could see its market share here erode further to 8.5 percent by 2025.
Among other brands, pending any changes in deployment, Holland America Line, Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line maintain or increase their market shares slightly.
In 2016, the three largest companies in the North American market, Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, command 90 percent of the passenger capacity, and will have 86.3 percent by 2025.
Today, the Carnival brand dominates the contemporary market (with the most passenger capacity); Celebrity Cruises the premium market; Silversea Cruises, the luxury market; and Lindblad Expeditions the expedition and adventure market.
About the Annual Report:
The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2025 in 350+ pages. Statistics are independently researched. Learn more by clicking here.
The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2021+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines.
