Norwegian Cruise Line is overhauling the way it prices and sells cruises, moving to a base-loading revenue management approach that CEO John Chidsey said will build demand earlier in the booking curve and reduce the brand’s reliance on close-in discounting.

“During the quarter, we began making changes to the way we sell cruises at NCL,” Chidsey said on the company’s second quarter earnings call.

“As we evaluated our prior approach, it became clear that in certain areas, we were holding price too high, too far out, which limited early demand generation and left us more exposed to close-in discounting.”

The new methodology establishes more competitive pricing earlier in the booking window, according to Chidsey, who framed the shift as a discipline change rather than a price cut.

“This is not about discounting the product,” he said. “It is about managing the full booking curve more effectively, building a healthier book position earlier, maintaining better price integrity as we move closer to sailing and being more strategic about our promotional activity.”

NCL has already taken pricing initiatives on select 2027 sailings and newly opened 2028 sailings, Chidsey said, with the biggest opportunity on voyages farther out in the booking window.

“For new 2028 inventory and beyond, all NCL sailings will be managed using this methodology from the outset,” he said.

“When you do this, you don’t really know how long it will take to retrain, so to speak, the guest and the travel community,” he said.

I don’t think this is a multi-year thing … It’s clearly the right thing to do over the long run. And again, when you look at our other brands, you see that it works better.”

Chidsey said the rollout was already underway.

“We’ve already begun to work on all this in terms of changing pricing in select markets,” he said. “We’re doing it sort of from the ground up, market by market, sailing by sailing.”