The Cruise Crowd Is Back, Even if Investors Arent Heres Why It May Be Time to Take a Plunge

A cruising excursion, for travelers so inclined, can be a cost-effective way of doing that. Norwegian recently announced its intention to leave open a $1 billion commitment with funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management through March 31, 2023. However, it does illustrate that the cruise line industry in general is navigating uncertain waters. In addition, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently heightened by and will continue to be heightened by, or in the future may be heightened by, the COVID-19 pandemic. Leading cruise lines have been working hard to accelerate digital transformation and apply new tech to tap into data-driven insights, increase hygiene levels, and improve the customer experience. The offer applies to cruises on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

investing in cruise lines

If you’re not quite in that financial position, do bear in mind that you can still buy as little as one stock–but less risk means less opportunity for reward. Cruise line stocks are not cheap, and if you want to get the most Carnival cruise line stock benefits, you’ll probably want to buy at least 100 shares. The exact amount to invest varies between cruise lines and what the price happens to be at a given time.

Cruise Stocks That Are Recovering Well

The flexibility of freestyle cruising has allowed Norwegian to readily appeal to families and younger travelers since its founding, a reputation that remains with the company. IBD Videos Get market updates, educational videos, webinars, and stock analysis. The stock looks poised for a bon voyage Is FBS a Reliable Broker once the coronavirus pandemic is truly tamed. CCL stock’s weak Relative Strength Rating of 39 out of a possible 99 is down from 83 two months ago. After pulling back as much as 37% from its June 8 high, Carnival shares have rebounded and are now up 8% year-to-date vs. an 21% gain by the S&P 500.

The founder of Cruise Hive which was established in 2008 as one of the earliest cruise blogs in the industry. Emrys has been reporting on the latest cruise industry news since the site first launched. Expert insights and tips featured on a number of publications including The Express, Business Insider, and more. Worked for Carnival Cruise Line for 8 years and is well and truly dedicated to cruising!

investing in cruise lines

The company has managed to control costs much better than Norwegian Cruise Lines has, and the shares are somewhere between 32% and 80% cheaper. Thus, on a risk adjusted basis, I think Carnival Cruise Lines is clearly the winner here. I’m a fan of preserving capital, though, and I think the absolute best risk adjusted play here is to buy the March Carnival Cruise Lines calls with a strike of $7.50. These give investors much of any upside we’re going to get at a fraction of the downside.

Cruise Stocks

The company already achieved a positive operating cash flow in the month of April 2022. Prior to the pandemic, Royal Caribbean had placed orders for a number of new cruise ships, including a brand new class called the Icon Class, according to the company’s blog. Although Royal Caribbean has had to scale back its timelines, passengers can still expect a number of new ships to come available over the next year or two.

We strongly advise doing your own research and seeking out the counsel of a financial adviser before making any stock purchase. Although cruise ship companies have suffered financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, investors can be hopeful for a strong rebound. Here’s a look at the three largest cruise line stocks based on market capitalization.

Award vs. cash calculator

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  • These challenges remind investors that future pandemics remain a risk for cruise line stocks.
  • As a result, investors should expect continued volatility in the major cruise line stocks.
  • You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy.
  • Given that, Carnival carries with it more risk, as well as making it more challenging to eventually pay a dividend to shareholders.
  • You are looking at a substantial initial investment — typically thousands of dollars, depending on which parent company you invest in and the cruise line’s stock price at the time of purchase.
  • No matter what travel style a tourist has, we have an itinerary for them.

The main competitive advantage that Lindblad enjoys is its ability to offer premium, one-of-a-kind experiences. Travelers with Lindblad can book exciting expeditions all ForexEE Forex over the world, including to Antarctica, the Caribbean coast, and Patagonia. Because of the types of trips offered, Lindblad has built a loyal base of wealthy customers.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL)

This means all three cruise lines stand on equal footing with passengers who prioritize COVID measures when traveling — and noncompliant individuals who choose alternative means of travel. Coming in as the third-largest cruise line in the world, Norwegian has a fleet of 17 ships that typically sail to more than 490 global destinations. DowMarkets Review – Pros, Cons and Verdict By 2027, the cruise line plans to add nine ships to its inventory. Carnival, the world’s largest cruise line operator, cruises to destinations all over the world. The cruise line’s Carnival Pride began sailing again in September 2021 — the first ship to set sail from the Baltimore cruise terminal in 18 months.

Resurgence of COVID-19 cases have repeatedly hampered reopening efforts by cruise lines. The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is “outcompeting” the more dangerous but less contagious Delta variant, giving hundreds of millions of people worldwide an additional layer of natural immunity against the virus. At the end of 2021, Cruise Lines International Association , an industry trade association, reported over 75% of its members’ ocean-going capacity had returned to service. The CLIA expects nearly 100% ocean-going capacity by the end of July 2022. Still, the stock has anIBD Accumulation/Distribution Rating (A/D) of B on an A to E scale with A+ tops. Its rating indicates more net buying than selling by institutional investors such as mutual funds.

Cruise Line Stock Perks and Shareholder Benefits

As major players, they could prove to be bellwethers for cruise stocks overall. You can receive onboard credit each time you cruise by purchasing 100 or more shares of stock from a major publicly traded cruise company. Before agreeing to buy cruise line stock, you should read the rules carefully and weigh the price of the stock versus any savings you will receive, as well as understand the potential risks of your investment. These are the cruise line stocks with the highestyear-over-year sales growth for the most recent quarter. Rising sales can help investors to identify companies that are able to grow revenue organically or through other means and to find growing companies that have not yet reached profitability.

While the original strain of COVID-19 shut down the industry, successive waves of Delta and Omicron variants have forced companies to implement multiple stop-start operations on the road to recovery. “We believe our August restart assumption remains reasonable, and that under this scenario, cruise stocks represent significant value, with RCL our favorite in the group,” he says. Cruise line stocks have been sailing higher in 2021 on expectations the major lines will hit the open waters again this year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued much-anticipated reopening guidelines for travel ship operators. The company said revenue per passenger cruise day was up 7.5% compared to 2019, and that 75% of the total capacity had resumed normal operations. Carnival expects positive adjusted EBITDA during the summer season, and a full-year loss this year despite a profit for Q3.

With Norwegian ripe for rebound and possessing a healthy balance sheet, the light at the end of the tunnel has become bright for its investors. Again, this echoes the broader sentiment seen among the analysts tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence, though NCLH does have the smallest bear camp of the three major cruise line stocks. Of the 17 analysts following NCLH, four call it a Strong Buy, two say Buy, 10 call it a Hold while just one deems it a Strong Sell. And an average price target of $31.00 implies at least some upside of about 5% over the next 12 months or so.

She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis. We estimate earnings power at $2.25 per share for Carnival, but expect 7% growth off of that level in the years to come. The company’s fleet optimization strategy is seeing a more efficient fleet that costs less for fuel, as well as optimizes onboard spending. Both of these help drive margins, and Carnival is seeing very robust demand for tickets both in terms of volume and pricing.