Royal Caribbean chair – Post-Wave bookings on a tear man

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reported an unusual surge in bookings in from mid-February to mid-April, a stretch when the booking pace typically decelerates.

Company chairman Richard Fain said that while the Wave season had been merely “typical,” which was slightly concerning, bookings in the past eight weeks were up more than 20%, driven by promotions.

“The volumes have just been unprecedented,” for a period in which the booking pace usually slackens, Fain said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts on Thursday.

He said promotions such as Royal Caribbean International’s Kids Sail Free and Celebrity Cruises’ 123Go had allowed RCCL to make up most of the booking deficit it had going into the last week of February.

Although occupancy levels are surging, pricing remains lower than a year ago. Fain also said “quality demand” in regions outside the Caribbean is contributing to the surge.
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Follow Tom Stieghorst on Twitter @tstravelweekly.