Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Group are increasingly bullish on the German cruise market as both operators are not only planning growth for their German brands, but have also gone out of their way to highlight the momentum on company earnings calls.

AIDA

The AIDA Evolution drydock upgrades for the AIDAdiva have been well received, said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival Corporation, speaking on the company’s second earnings call in June.

The initial refit program was for three of the AIDA Sphinx-class ships, and that has now been extended to all seven.

“This success is a great sign for the remaining six vessels in the AIDA fleet that will undergo this upgrade over the next few years. Also we recently ordered two newbuilds for AIDA for delivery in fiscal 2030 and 2032.

“As we reinforce our strategy to rebalance the company towards our higher returning brands, these next-generation ships coupled with the AIDA Evolution program modernizing much of the existing fleet, will drive even more demand for our AIDA brand which is already synonymous with cruising in Germany.”

Going back to December, Weinstein, speaking on what was the company’s year-end earnings call, said that AIDA was “pretty much neck-and-neck with Carnival (Cruise Line) for the highest returning brand in our portfolio.”

TUI

Royal Caribbean Group echoed similar comments on its second quarter 2025 earnings call, pointing out the TUI Cruises joint venture in its earnings release before mentioning the new Star of the Seas or any of the company’s other brands.

“Our second quarter results exceeded expectations, mainly driven by stronger- than-expected close-in demand, a shift in the timing of some expenses and favorability below the line that was mainly driven by the outperformance of our TUI Cruises joint venture and lower interest costs,” said Jason Liberty, CEO, speaking on the company’s earnings call.

TUI reported record results in May for its second quarter and first half financial results.

TUI said the business was benefitting from the introduction of two new ships against the background of a “strong trading environment.”

Two TUI Cruises newbuilds in service meant available passenger cruise days were up 27 percent for the brand in the quarter.

Daily rates were up to 176 euros per passenger per day for the TUI Cruises brand, up from 169 euros a year prior.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, which also falls under the TUI joint venture with Royal Caribbean Group, saw its occupancy drop from 77 percent to 74 percent for the second quarter, while its average daily rate fell to 745 euros per guest per day, down from 772 euros.

TUI has one more newbuild on order as the 4,000-guest Mein Schiff Flow debuts in 2026.