Andrea Zelinski
Cruise bookings were "fantastic" after the November election, Alex Sharpe, president and CEO of Signature Travel Network president told me.
After President Trump took office in January, bookings were "really good."
But since tariffs and talk of trade wars have consumed the news, bookings are now "just okay," he said.
"If it continues for four to six weeks, then it will be more concerning, but we will see," Sharpe said.
President Trump and his administration have wasted little time getting to work on his agenda, which included plans to levy tariffs against Mexico and Canada to pressure America's neighbors to do a better job combating unchecked drug trafficking, according to the White House.
Amid the dizzying tariffs -- both real and threatened -- the stock market has taken several significant tumbles. After Trump threatened 200% tariffs on European wines and alcohol (in response to the EU issuing tariffs on U.S. whiskey), the S&P 500 fell more than 10% below its record, which it had just set in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite both also fell.
And travel sellers are starting to see some effect on their business.
Considering the tariff news and stock volatility that has come with it, Anthony Hamawy, president of Cruise.com, said he is "definitely seeing a slowdown," although bookings are still up year over year.
"When we see the stock market have these 800-point down days, your call volume immediately drops off," he said.
But that's always what he sees when the stock market has dramatically low days, he said. The firing of federal workers doesn't help either, by taking those people and others in related roles out of their paying gigs, he said.
Although he's noticed a slowdown, his 2026 business is "way up," he said.
Hamawy suggested some people are holding off on booking now and are instead booking into next year. This is working out for cruise lines, which entered the year in solid booked positions before Wave. He said cruise lines haven't been compelled to cut prices, either.
"So even if the market is a little slower, it's not like other years where you might see prices start to dump. I'm not seeing that right now, which tells me the cruise lines are doing pretty well overall," he said.
Sharpe is seeing the same. Price is still up year over year by about 5% or more, but bookings are down a bit.
"Overall sales volume is a few points off, but the booked position for most cruise lines is still the best position in history," he said.