Exceptional Booking Volumes Spurs Fare Increases For NCL

This may be a trend in the making, so you might want to start making your cruise vacations a bit sooner than later.

Only a little over a week after Carnival Cruise Lines announced upcoming fare increases spurred by strong booking numbers, Norwegian Cruise Line reports they too experienced an unprecedented year-to-date increase in booking volume during their “Year of the Freestyle Vacation” wave season promotion in January and February. In addition, group business was up close to twofold. The company also saw a strong interest in its new ship debuting in June, Norwegian Epic, and for its Hawaii-based ship, Pride of America. Because of this demand, prices are set to increase fleet wide up to seven percent as of Thursday, April 2, 2010. That’s 2 percent higher than the “up to 5 percent” announced by competitor Carnival.

“Our first quarter wave season promotion definitely persuaded consumers to book a Norwegian cruise vacation as we saw heavy call volumes translating to exceptional bookings,” said Kevin Sheehan, Norwegian Cruise Line chief executive officer. “As we move out of wave season, consumers and travel partners can expect to see our prices rise across the fleet, especially for our new, highly anticipated ship Norwegian Epic.”

About Norwegian Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line is the innovator in cruise travel with a 43-year history of breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising, most notably with the introduction of Freestyle Cruising which has revolutionized the industry by allowing guests more freedom and flexibility. Today, Norwegian has the youngest fleet in the industry with 10 purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ships, providing guests the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed cruise vacation on the newest, most contemporary ships at sea.Norwegian is presently building Norwegian Epic, the company’s largest and most innovative Freestyle Cruising ship to date, for delivery in June 2010. Norwegian Cruise Line is the official cruise line of Blue Man Group, debuting for the first time at sea on Norwegian Epic. For more information on Norwegian or to book a cruise, call 866-234-7350, visit NCL.com ,or phone a travel professional.