Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is seeing strong bookings for 2022 and beyond, with the booked position for the second half of 2022 in line with historical records in 2019, according to President and CEO Frank Del Rio, speaking on the company’s year-end and fourth quarter earnings call.
“While 2023, compared to pre-pandemic 2020, is in an even better position, in fact, a record booked position,” said Del Rio. “As of today pricing for 2022 and 2023 sailings remained higher for the full year versus 2019 and pre-pandemic 2020, respectively, even when including the diluted effect of future cruise credits.”
Del Rio credited the success to the company’s strategy of marketing to fill ships as opposed to discounting, which he said would result in long-term damage to brand equity.
Later in the call, Del Rio said that with the numbers the company has on its books for 2023, he expects a very strong year.
“Based on the numbers that I have in the books right now, both load factor and pricing, and further based on the assumption that we will not see another major delta or omicron-type surge, 2023 can get the industry and certainly our company back to pre-pandemic levels,” Del Rio said, noting the company was hoping to have 60 to 65 percent of its inventory filled for 2023 by the end of 2022.
