The Caribbean has long been the foundation for the contemporary cruise market, and recent moves by the largest cruise lines show that is truer than ever.
Harry Sommer
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings in 2026 will put 10% more of its ships in the Caribbean than it has this year, while having 6% less of its fleet in Europe. Its fun-and-sun itineraries were a heavy emphasis throughout the company's Q2 earnings call in late July, when CEO Harry Sommer said that demand for the Caribbean in recent years shaped decisions to increase deployment in the region.
"We want to operate itineraries that have the highest possible guest satisfaction scores and repeat rates, and we think this new deployment in the Caribbean and Bermuda will help to optimize for that number," Sommer said.
Of its three brands, Norwegian Cruise Line has the biggest Caribbean presence but had been "under-indexing" in the region in recent years, said president David Herrera, when it saw strong opportunity in Europe and Alaska.
"As we have additional capacity … we're investing in the Caribbean so we can send more of our guests," he said during an interview July 29. "Our guests are telling us they want to go to the Caribbean."
NCL is not alone among the largest contemporary brands that are emphasizing the Caribbean.
Carnival Cruise Line regularly has the majority of its ships in the region. Royal Caribbean International is investing heavily in private Caribbean destinations and has 15 of its 29 ships sailing the region this month, a number that will climb during the winter season. Next summer, 17 will sail the Caribbean.
As for whether NCLH's shift will be long-term, a spokeswoman said, "We are always making small changes to our itineraries in order to optimize, but the 2026 deployment is a good blueprint for the future."
Theresa Scalzitti
Cruise Planners COO Theresa Scalzitti said that when NCL was positioning more ships in Europe, it meant pulling away from the Caribbean, which she said always has strong demand from U.S. families in the contemporary cruise market. She sees NCL's move to reprioritize those sailings in upcoming seasons as a return to the cruise line's standard regional distribution.
"They know that their strength is family and Caribbean sailings," she said.
The pull from private destinations
Increases in short sailings and cruise lines' continued investments in growing their private destinations indicate "a renewed emphasis on the Caribbean and the U.S. market," Scalzitti said.
Royal Caribbean International is among the brands that has invested the most in those destinations. The company thinks of its shortest itineraries as "big weekend" sailings, and more private destinations mean those will get "even bigger," president Michael Bayley said during Royal Caribbean Group's Q2 earnings call last month. During sailings of two or three nights, the line's ships visit its private destination in the Bahamas, Perfect Day at CocoCay and the Royal Beach Club in Nassau, which opens in December.
Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas. Photo Credit: Royal Caribbean
NCL, meanwhile, is building a waterpark at its private island, Great Stirrup Cay, that is slated to open next summer. Carnival opened its private destination Celebration Key on Grand Bahama last month.
As contemporary cruise lines expand private Caribbean destinations, Scalzitti said, they will continue to prioritize Caribbean sailings.
"If there's an opportunity to maximize that and have another ship that would visit one of those islands, that makes a lot of sense from an investment point of view and making sure that they are getting that return on investment," she said.
In the luxury cruise market, meanwhile, cruises that require a plane ride remain popular. Cruise Planners saw strong demand for Europe this year, slightly outpacing the Caribbean, Scalzitti said, due to strength among its luxury sellers.
NCLH and its upscale brands, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas, did not say whether there are Caribbean pushes planned similar to NCL.
"They are strong in Europe, and they do some Caribbean -- very nice, deep, exotic Caribbean, which is what that demographic, their target market, is probably looking for," Scalzitti said.
But luxury cruise advisor Dennis Nienkerk has noticed that clients who have traveled widely are happier than ever to skip a long flight in favor of a luxury sailing in the Caribbean. He's seeing growth in luxury cruising overall, but disproportionately more in the Caribbean than in the Mediterranean.
"I've had people tell me they just don't want to fly over to Europe anymore, they're kind of burned out on the Mediterranean," Nienkerk said. "Although there's a lot of Caribbean burnout too, at least it's close, and they'll go and do it."