Following April's stock market tumble and again during the June war in Iran, many cruise customers put the brakes on booking their next sailing.
But in short order, once the news cycle moved on, they went right back to scheduling their trips.
Cruisers may be "notoriously panicky," according to cruise industry analyst Patrick Scholes, but despite economic and global upheaval this year, booking patterns have been mostly consistent, apart from those temporary hiccups synched with the news cycle.
That's according to cruise lines, agencies and analysts, which have found that trends one might see during more elongated periods of conflict -- particularly when in or near international destinations -- are only being felt by some advisors. Large cruise companies like MSC Group and Carnival Corp. say they have not noticed major shifts.
And that is despite cruisers being a jumpy group, said Scholes, of Truist Securities.
"The American cruise customer is about as skittish a traveler as you get and not very good with geography," he said. "Historically, every time you have some sort of international conflict, especially if there's a cruise within 1,000 miles of that location, Americans get skittish. It just happens over and over."
The period in June when Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran was the most recent time that cruise bookings for Europe slowed, sources said.
Once customers decided the conflict didn't seem to be leading to World War III, booking patterns returned to normal.
"The fact that, so far, it really didn't escalate beyond that has made travelers breathe a sigh of relief," Scholes said. "But certainly for two or three days immediately following that, there definitely was a hiccup in bookings."
The economic concerns of the spring transitioned into a more gradual rebound for Carnival Corp., with sales improvements in May after a shaky April and then further improvements in early June, said CEO Josh Weinstein during the company's second-quarter earnings call.
Now, in part thanks to a strong Wave season, summer cabin options are slim and selling at premium prices, and bookings for next year are well underway, travel advisors said.
Among the indicators that U.S. cruisers aren't spooked by the headlines is strength in Europe. Carnival Corp.'s Europe bookings for the third quarter are "looking great," Weinstein said. "Nothing but good things to talk about there."
Scenic Group said it's seeing strong demand globally and particular strength for its summer cruises in the Mediterranean and European river cruises.
Anthony Hamawy of Cruise.com shared similar observations.
"Europe is still selling very well," Hamawy said. "And when I look outward into next year, Europe is already doing very well for us."
Cruises closer to home
Some cruise sellers and analysts are reporting shifting booking habits, much of which they attribute to the news.
"People are booking right now more close to home," said Marisel Aleman, vice president of Cruise Elite in Ormond Beach, Fla. "I think that all depends on whatever is happening in the world."
Mediterranean sailings likely have some of the greatest cabin availability in the third quarter but are still relatively full, said KHM Travel Group's Bill Coyle during a digitally broadcast discussion with Cleveland Research Co.
"It's not a desperate plea yet," Coyle said. "They're probably at a good capacity for that, but we can always fill more cabins."
Even affluent clients aren't immune to making travel decisions based on the macroeconomic climate or conflict.
A month or two ago, Carlos Edery saw more cancellations than typical at his agency, Luxury Cruise Connections.
"Our clients are 70 or 80 years old and usually taking long trips away from home," he said. "The [booking] curve is almost identical to the geopolitical or financial sentiment."
Still, even those who are seeing some fluctuation don't necessarily think it will be long-lasting. Mark Wilson, who works in cruise and tour product strategy and operations at Arrivia (No. 19 on Travel Weekly's Power List), a travel tech company specializing in loyalty programs, described recent fluctuations in Europe cruise sales as "noise" during the Cleveland Research discussion.
And looking toward 2026, he doesn't predict a negative impact.
"Noise is noise, and we don't love noise, but I do think it's going to continue to do well," he said of Europe cruise sales.
Cruise as an industry is a combination of unpredictable and resilient, said Josh Tolkin, vice president of supplier relations at World Travel Holdings.
While major news events have an effect, customers adapt and bookings rebound, he said. Outside of the events that have caused temporary booking impacts, this year and next will be ones in which consumer interest continues to normalize after the post-Covid travel boom.
"In general, 2025 is just rightsizing to a more normal booking year than the post-Covid rebound years," he said, "and 2026 is looking to normalize even further."