There doesn't seem to be much of a downside for Booking.com getting into cruises. As with flights, which it launched in 2019, we can only say — what took you so long?
Carnival's North America market continues to be a star performer, and Europe is doing very well. Still, that won't be enough to return Carnival to full health post-pandemic. It needs to speed up growth in Asia and Australia.
Cruise lines will continue to debut new ships in the near term through a balancing act between refinancing debt and improving profit margins. The high cost of debt will not stop vessels from sailing. The three major cruise lines remain optimistic for demand recovery.