If you’re hoping to book a last-minute cruise at a deeply discounted rate, you’ll soon find fewer opportunities to do so where Norwegian Cruise Line is concerned. In fact, you might just discover that the early bird truly does get the worm now that the line is changing their approach where sales are concerned.
Say Farewell to Last-Minute Norwegian Cruise Line Deals?
During the most recent earnings call for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings — aka the parent company of NCL — relatively new CEO John Chidsey explained why in the coming months, you’ll likely be able to get better pricing by booking far in advance.
Recently, he explained, “we began making changes to the way we sell cruises.” In looking at bookings over the past few years, the exec said “it became clear that in certain areas, we were holding price too high, too far out, which limited early demand generation and left us more exposed to close-in discounting.”
In other words, because people were holding out for a better deal, fewer staterooms were sold in advance. As embarkation dates grew closer, prices would be slashed in order to increasing onboard capacity.
Where You’ll Find the Best Bargains
Moving forward, the plan, Chidsey said, is to establish “more competitive pricing earlier in the booking curve.” He was quick to add that “this is not about discounting the product” as opposed to “maintaining better price integrity as we move closer to sailing.”
Plans like this take time to roll out, which means the further out one looks at booking, the more likely guests will be to notice the change. “The greatest opportunity is on sailings further out in the booking window, particularly later in 2027, where we have more time to shape the curve,” he detailed.
“For new 2028 inventory and beyond, all NCL sailings will be managed using this methodology from the outset.” Which would seem to indicate that there is still a window of opportunity for those looking for last-minute Norwegian Cruise Line deals… but it’s a window that will be closing in the months to come!
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